The Student Room Group

Spotty back syndrome

I have suffered from bad acne on my back for the past few years and I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem.

Does anyone know a good way to get rid of them. I know that getting out in the sun helps a hell of a lot but that is not always possible for obvious reasons (damn British weather :frown: )

Girls, give me your opinion, does this sort of thing really put you off a guy?

Also, I used to make a very big mistake and squeeze them rather than let them go naturally and now have many spot shaped scars on my back, any remedies for this aswell would be great.

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Reply 1
I had spots on my back, and I went to my doctor! She gave me some stuff to put on, and now they've all gone. They didn't even come back when I stopped using it.
wow do you know what it was? i dont have any acne except for my upper arms and top of back of neck. should i see the GP? were you embarrassed?
ok i'll make the appointment.
also, for white guys with scars, bio oil might help or pure evening primrose oil. apply nightly
Reply 4
magiccarpet
wow do you know what it was? i dont have any acne except for my upper arms and top of back of neck. should i see the GP? were you embarrassed?

I can't remember, sorry. It was like a roll on deodorant (but obviously for getting rid of spots, not smells!) and I used it every morning for a few months. I went for something else and just brought up my spots as well, rather than making a separate appointment for them, but if yours are bad then go and see them anyway.
hmmm im embarrassed. i might try getting some weak benzoyl peroxide over the counter first.

but reading this thread, its nice to know im not the only one with this problem. i started getting spotty upper arms and back of neck and assumed i was allergic to my clothes :eek:
Reply 6
Thanks very much for the replies. Just ordered some bio oil for the scarring so hopefully it will do the job.

The spots themselves I am not too worried about. They do seem to be less frequent now and I know to let them go naturally.
everywhere says bio oil helps scarring.

a good tip when with the ladies :wink: is to hide some of the scarring with getting a tan, fake or otherwise will hide the marks

on asian/black people, use Palmer's Fade cream will get rid of the black manchas (heavily pigmented dark blotches) left by scarring.its 100% excellent i used it for a month and nearly all gone
Reply 8
hmmm i can defo sympathise with the spots thing although mine used to be available for public viewing on the face :smile: i went to the doc only about 3 months ago and she put me str8 on some antibiotics, even theough they werent that bad, i mean you wouldnt have stopped and stared in the street, but i am 17 and i figured hey this is totally over. It worked really well, i always squeeze, whiteheads on the face are sick and its so satisfying but getting a tan does really help scars cos a i have a few although i used sunbeds and stuff (skin cancer here i come) and you varley would notice them!
magiccarpet
wow do you know what it was? i dont have any acne except for my upper arms and top of back of neck. should i see the GP? were you embarrassed?

well i had very bad spots on my upper arms and back, and they have all but gone now im past puberty.
still get some spots on my back though - but i think that is the burden of being a testosterone pumped machine
honestly, i think i have too much...
Be careful with the sun and acne. The idea that sun sorts out acne is a bit of a myth. It masks the imperfections temporarily but after a while, especially once the tan goes away, it has the reverse effect and can bring back even worse acne than before. Many dermatologists will tell you this. Plus most strong acne treatments prevent you from exposing yourself to the sun anyway.
foolfarian
well i had very bad spots on my upper arms and back, and they have all but gone now im past puberty.
still get some spots on my back though - but i think that is the burden of being a testosterone pumped machine
honestly, i think i have too much...


I don't think that spots on your back have the same causes than acne on your face (hormone imbalance during puberty). It's more likely due to excess sebum that can have many causes. I remember being told that acne in those areas can be due to nervousness.
SamTheMan
I don't think that spots on your back have the same causes than acne on your face (hormone imbalance during puberty). It's more likely due to excess sebum that can have many causes. I remember being told that acne in those areas can be due to nervousness.

Actually one of the signs of steroids usage is spots on the back
Reply 13
i get some spots on my back but nothing major.

my dad gets bad ones and moles, occasionally needing them cut out.
Reply 14
foolfarian
Actually one of the signs of steroids usage is spots on the back


/was once on them. body rejected them sharpish.
I have some on my back/shoulders, but I don't mind them too much. I wouldn't really call is acne, I probably have more on my face.

I'm just going to let them all go away naturally, hopefully my holiday this easter will clear them up a bit, they always get worse in the winter.
Reply 16
i got some on my arm... there a little embarrassing but ot too bad
Reply 17
i used to have a big problem with it as well (still not gone completely but waaay better). i didnt go to the doc, but i just cleansed my back morning and night to make sure it was always clean and also antiseptic creamed it. worked soo well! i still get a few outbreaks but im nower near as self conscious of it any more as i used to be.
Reply 18
M@255
I would recommend Roaccutane whole heartedly. It's done wonders for my skin. I had acne on my face and it was terrible on my back. I now have perfect skin (which is also probably a result of my obsession with moisturising and fake tan and crap etc).


Eek! I thought they were going to ban Roaccutane! Didn't like 3 people kill themselves after going on it, and it has tonnes of other weird side-effects!

:eek:
Reply 19
yeh, roaccutane is a last resort. but it sure as hell works.

the only side effect i had was really dry lips.