A recent Korean study found that acne on the body is very common. The most common site is the trunk, trunk, especially in young people.
In fact, 52 percent of teens with acne on their faces also get some on their torso.
Acne on the torso most often affects the upper back (52 percent), followed by the chest (30 percent), the lower back (22 percent), the shoulders and upper arms (16 percent) and finally the neck (8 percent).
The worse the acne on the face, the more likely you are to also get acne on the body.
Acne on your body is the same acne as the spots you get on your face.
We know that acne is a typical feature of being a teenager. But it turns out that about 50 percent of adults also have acne.
That number has come to us slowly over the past thirty years, but increased by about 70 percent in the five years before the pandemic.
Adult acne and teenage acne are both fundamentally caused by the same four factors:
- High oil or sebum production
- Excess skin cells combine with the oil and become trapped in the follicles
- The blockage becomes a breeding ground for the C Acnes bacteria
- Inflammation
However, not all acne is the same. Acne can range from a few black and white heads to a face full of smaller pimples plus the larger, painful throbbing nodules and cysts.
All acne, mild or severe, will benefit from vitamin A, which is now considered the mainstay of acne treatment.
Vitamin A helps increase cell turnover to prevent excessive accumulation of dead skin cells.
It is also comedolytic (pimple clearing) and anti-inflammatory. Of the over-the-counter retinoids, retinal (also called retinaldehyde) is the most effective and least irritating form of vitamin A.
Prescription retinoids often cause irritation, redness, dryness, and even peeling.
Hydroxy acids, which gently exfoliate and unclog pores, also help reduce excess skin cells and oil that clog pores and cause breakouts.
Vitamin B3 or Niacinamide is anti-inflammatory and antibacterial and reduces sebum or oil production. It can also improve the important function of the skin barrier by preventing water loss through the epidermis (the outer layer of skin).
Since many people with acne have dry skin underlying the overproduction of oil, this can also be helpful for acne.
It is not recommended to use toners, alcohol-based products or scrubs as they dry out the skin and cause more inflammation.