Male 25 with Chest Acne, What Are My Options? (photo)

i have tried a series of different things to resolve my chest acne. over the counter acne body wash seems not to help at all. i used many different types of soaps and none of them make a noticeable difference. i worked on ship one year and was out at sea constantly. i had no acne at all during that time. I'm guessing the salt air and the humidity had something to do with it. I'm looking for some basic advice. i tend to have greasy skin in general. i take vitamins everyday and eat well

Tags:

Comment on this

2 Doctor Answers | Asked by googpal123

Doctor Answers (2)
Community Comments (0)

Those appear to be large and cystic

Your acne appears to be large and cystic. Topicals, lotions, and soaps will help, but they are probably not going to be a full treatment solution. I would recommend a trip to a dermatologist to go over the products you are using and see what he or she recommends as far as oral medications. I just don't think anything topical is going to be strong enough, especially OTC products.

Treating chest acne

As you are experiencing, acne does not occur just on the face--it also commonly occurs on the chest, back and arms. Body acne can be more challenging to treat as the skin is thicker, it may be more difficult to apply topical medicine, and topicals may not be as practical as they can stain clothing--depending on which is selected. A short course of oral antibiotics (combined with a benzoyl peroxide wash to prevent antibiotic resistance) or isotretinoin (Accutane) may be helpful. It sounds... more