Just like facial acne, back acne forms when your sebaceous glands produce excess sebum or oil. This excess sebum causes pores and hair follicles to become clogged. While sweating or wearing too tight clothing doesn’t cause acne, it may irritate the skin and exacerbate your acne. To help reduce irritation, try to avoid wearing clothing that is too tight or doesn’t breathe and always take a shower after you workout or change out of sweaty clothes as soon as possible.
You can also help to reduce back acne by properly cleaning your skin. Exfoliation of your back a few times a week can help remove dirt, oil and dead skin cells which can clog pores. On days when you don’t exfoliate, you can use an anti-bacterial cleanser to wash your skin and then follow that up with a benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid acne treatment. For more serious acne treatment, be sure to talk to your doctor.
