Acne is most commonly thought of as a facial disfigurement, but it is also very common for acne to occur on other parts of the body, particularly the back and the neck.
These areas are more susceptible to acne in the adult years, while the facial acne is a common occurrence in youngsters in the teenage period.
Treating body acne is not difficult, and a quick search on the web will throw up many different brands and types of treatment available from the pharmacist.
These tend to take the form of treatment systems, involving the application of a cleansing lotion followed by further creams that inhibit the return of acne and encourage the regrowth of the skin in the affected areas.
The doctor can help
For more serious cases it is recommended that a visit to the doctor be in order, as a referral to a skin specialist – a dermatologist – may be necessary to determine the type of skin you have, and to deduce the suitable treatment available for your type and severity of body acne.
These cases result in stronger, prescription only treatments, but for the lesser cases, the everyday body acne, there is also the option of looking at herbal remedies, natural practices based on medicines of old.
In fact, the use of plants as medicine is as old as we can measure, and current method and substances that are used in herbal remedies are drawn from Far Eastern cultures, particularly Chinese culture, with natural, herbal remedies for many ailments still being used in the practice of medicine in China to this day.
Essential oils and nutrients
Herbal body acne treatments centre on the use of essential oils, these being substances obtained from trees and shrubs as they have been for many centuries, substances that are known to be beneficial to the health of the skin.
Keeping the skin healthy is an important factor in the fight against body acne, and application of essential oils – Coconut oil is popular, as are Rosewood and Tea Tree oils – gives the skin access to nutrients that help it on the way to health and strength, factors that help the skin fight against acne and stay in good shape.
Watch what you eat
Also helpful in the war on body acne is the daily diet, with a healthy intake of vegetables and fruits – foods that feed the skin with natural goodness and nutrition, recommended as part of a balanced diet, and a close eye kept on fatty or oily foods that secrete enzymes that are responsible for encouraging acne and other skin ailments.
Cut down on the oily and fatty meals and eat more vegetable and fruit based foods, and make sure that you keep a regular and sensible intake of water, or fruit juices, in your daily diet as the skin needs fluids in order to stay healthy and enable it to fight against acne.
The keys to keeping body acne at bay, and treating it when it does appear, are a healthy skin and a good diet, and treatment with nourishing essential oils that keep your skin in good shape.