Monday, December 7, 2009

Bacne

Last night a dear friend of mine called to thank me for helping her 15 year old get rid of her bacne. She had called about 3 weeks ago because her poor child was getting teased pretty well by the other kids and mom was at her wits end. For you guys that may not know, bacne is just a slang name for back acne or back zits, pimples or whatever you may want to call them. While it is really no different than any other type of body acne, it's probably more severe and cystic in nature. This can make them especially difficult to get rid of. I know because I have firsthand experience with it.

You see, a great deal of my teen acne issues revolved around bacne. While I got a good dose of face acne I also had a good face treatment in my arsenals that actually keep my face blemishes to a minimum. But those back zits, well that was a different story.

None of the pills or potions that my dermatologist prescribed (today it's most likely tetracycline or minocycline) and suggested offered any relief. And it was the same negative response with the topical ointments and washes (Retin-A, benzoyl peroxide etal.). So there I was left to fend for myself. It took me awhile, but sure enough after some trial and error with various acne fighting solutions I stumbled upon a bacne natural treatment that worked for me many years ago which I was more than happy to impart to my friends 15 year old and now I guess I'll relay to you.

Because the back is difficult for most people to reach by themselves you should invest in a long handled very soft bristled brush. This brush is used to exfoliate your back once or twice a week with a sugar scrub. If you want or feel you need to get a tad more aggressive, you can do a salt scrub, but don't go nuts. When you are not exfoliating to remove dead skin wrapping your face clothing around the brush and using castile soap or your favorite acne cleanser makes an excellent every day cleansing instrument for your back or your whole body for that matter.

Wear loose fitting cotton garments whenever possible. If you don't believe that tight fitting clothing and sweating are a cause of bacne, talk to some football players and ask them about forehead acne from tight fitting helmets and chest and bacne from shoulder pads. I saw it first hand with my son when he played football. So lay off the spandex and other tight fitting clothing that don't allow your skin to breath.

You guys know how I feel about pimple popping. Don't do it. I almost didn't bother to even bring this up because the back is that one place that's just about impossible for someone to do any self zit popping. But with all the You Tube acne video's that I've seen on the net there doesn't seem to be any shortage of accomplices willing to have at those nasty pimples wherever they may be. Besides bacne has a nasty habit of leaving scars and while they may not be as noticeable to you like face acne scars would be. A pitted and scared back is not a pleasant sight.

Now, here's the secret to my bacne remedy. In a spray bottle mix 2 ounces of vinegar to 6 ounces of water and approx 1/32 of an ounce of tea tree oil. And after every shower spray a light mist over your back. While I have no scientific explanation why this acne home remedy works, I can say. It worked wonders for me, my friend's 15 year old and my own son. Everyone reported their bacne was gone in 2 weeks.

4 comments:

  1. Treating backne requires staying on top of your laundry. Taking showers or washing up twice a day won't cut it. If your clothes are sweaty and funky, or you're sleeping on nasty funky sheets, taking a shower is almost pointless. You're just contaminating your nice, freshly showered back with grimy, bacteria filled, dead skin laden, filthy shirts and bedding. So regularly launder your underwear, shirts, tees, tanks, sweaters, or whatever you wear. If you wear something once, don't wear it again till it's been washed. Make sure you wash your sheets and pillow cases twice a week. This is probably the most often looked proactive area when it comes to dealing with backne but is an absolute necessity if you want to come out on the winning end. PS- I luv he blog

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  2. Neutrogena makes a pretty good body wash that is an excellent backne cure.

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  3. My dermatologist gave me minocyclin. Worst decision ever. My joints began to hurt so I had to go to a rheumatologist! It was the worst pain I'd ever felt, I felt like an 80 year old woman instead of a 14 year old girl! So much pain, and the minocyclin barely did anything.

    I'm warning you now, if you have low body weight, minocyclin may have the same affects on you that it did to me. Be aware of the side effects!

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  4. I have used the CLEANE acne therapy device quite successfully on all forms of acne - including bacne (on my 15 year old daughter) and it works a treat! It uses blue light therapy, it's clean and there's no scarring.

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