19 Dermatologist-Approved Products That Can Help Get Rid of Back Acne for Good

ALL ZITS tend to overstay their welcome, but body acne is particularly stubborn. Back acne (or bacne, for short) is a real bummer because oftentimes you don't even realize you have it until its spread, covering your backside in a smattering of spots. Once you realize it's there, the question becomes how do you treat it? The back is the one part of the human body that you hands can't completely touch. Applying an acne spot treatment to every zit on you back would require the kind of dexterity that only contortionists are capable of. Before you start stretching, slow down and take a moment to understand what's causing your bacne. Getting to the root cause of bacne is the first step to treating this particular type of acne—and preventing it from occurring in the future.

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How to Treat Back Acne

You don’t need a medical degree to tackle bacne, because the treatment for regular acne, folliculitis, and acne mechanica are pretty much the same. The same ingredients that help acne on your face, like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, can help on body acne, too. Keeping the area clean and exfoliated is a given as well.

As with most things, “prevention is far more effective than treatment,” Finney says. Always make sure to shower as quickly as possible after working out and change into dry clothes to prevent sweat from sticking around on your skin (bonus points for wearing moisture-wicking workout clothes during your workout). Keep using skincare products, like body washes and exfoliators, even after your bacne has cleared up to keep it from coming back. Acne-focused skincare can work wonders on mild to moderate cases of bacne, but if you have severe outbreaks or notice that it’s not going away despite treatment, see a dermatologist. There might be underlying issues like hormones or diet at play. But for now, start with these 19 best back acne treatments to help get rid of annoying bacne and prevent it in the future.