Acne...

Ok....I have had a MAJOR problem with...of all things....BACK acne since early spring. Now granted occacionaly I would get a bump like where my waist band would rub ....but this current stuff is all over,  from my shoulder blades down to my waist, even smack dab on my spine and they HURT! They are big and deep and take days to go away or finaly (tmi sorry) burst. I dont know what has set it off. I bath daily, Im not a nasty dirty person. Im not out sweating alot either, I work in an office all week. Has anyone else had this happen and if so how did you get it to stop, and wtf sets it off? They are so painful and Im sure I now have scars on my back from them. Sorry if this was gross but I didnt know who else to ask...Im so embarrassed by them.

I don't know what sets it off by my husband has had a similar problem for years, with big scarring cysts mainly on his back. What helped him the most, ironically, was washing with original head and shoulders. I also put a drop of it in my hands with my face wash and its helped immensely with the weird skin problems I've had since surgery - really greasy t-zone and completely dry cheeks and neck - more pimples than I had even during puberty.

It can't hurt to try it, and its not very pricey!

Interesting question, as my stepson also suffers from bacne. He recently switched from 6-8 cans of Mountain Dew a day to flavored water or Crystal Lite and his acne, both facial and back, seems to be clearing up. I just did a quick search and so far have not seen anything to support this anecdotal evidence, but it makes sense to me.

Some sites mention tight or spandex clothing as a contributing cause. I stopped wearing spandex underpants after I had a few, um, "groin" abcesses and I have had very few since. Are you wearing spandex in the problem areas? My kid also recently start wearing looser clothing - he out grew his XLs (must have been all that Dew, huh?) so I moved some rarely worn 2Xs from his dad's closet to his.

Another tip I found was to watch out for fabric softeners - some brands can cause probs for some folks. Did you maybe switch to a new brand?

At 55 I still have some body acne myself, but most (not all) is in folds. 

One last thing to consider - my step daughter has noticed that when she is smoking alot of weed she has worse acne.  

Is it the weed or the munchies causing the problem? Who knows. I wish she would quit until it is legalized (if ever).

Uhm no no weed here lol. No spandex either....hate the stuff actualy lol. No new fabric softner or laundry soap. Thats the weird thing...ive not changed anything yet it still happens and just started this spring out of the blue and it seems every week I have a new outbreak. I haev 4 right now, 2 on my spine, and one on my right shoulder blade and one on my side waist area.....OUCHIE! Im gonna try the head and shoulders....cant hurt.

Try aztec secret healing clay.  Available at whole foods or any natural/health food grocery store.  It's amazing and better than proactive.

Could it be PMS related?  Since my op 3 months ago I have had HORRIBLE breakouts on my chin and neck every PMS week and beyond.  It hurts!!!  I havn't had zits in about 10 years, not like this anyway.  Ugh.  I feel your pain.  I have been using Nutrogena soap this week hoping that will help.  I used it as a teenager and it worked to keep things un irritated and less oily.  It sucks bc/ I have really dry skin on the rest of my face and have to moisturize there or I get the peelies.    :(