What Causes Butt Acne and How to Treat it?

No one wants to admit to them, but nearly everyone will get pimples on the butt at some point. It's common and generally is not a big deal. Butt acne can happen at any age, and it occurs equally in both men and women.

You may just get a butt pimple here and there. Or you may have rough, red bumps across the entirety of your bum. They may hurt, or itch, or not. All is normal.

Treating Butt Acne

You're not doomed to simply live with butt pimples. There are steps you can take to clear up butt acne, no matter what the cause.

Benzoyl Peroxide

Even though butt pimples aren't technically acne, you can still treat it with over-the-counter acne treatment products. Benzoyl peroxide body wash or bar soap is the best option. You can get it at any drugstore or big box store over the counter; you won't need a prescription. Benzoyl peroxide works best for inflamed bumps (folliculitis). Gently soap up all affected areas every time you shower.

Exfoliating Skin Creams

Keeping the follicles from becoming blocked will help your skin stay baby-bum-smooth. To do this, regular exfoliation is key. Exfoliating creams help speed up cell turnover while keeping the skin moisturized, and they're especially helpful for keratosis pilaris. Look for over-the-counter creams that contain glycolic acid, lactic acid, or salicylic acid. Prescription creams containing tretinoin can be used in more severe cases.

Topical or Oral Antibiotics

In the cases of severe infection, topical antibiotics or oral antibiotics may be needed. If your blemishes are very red, swollen, and painful and home treatment isn't helping, a visit to your physician is recommended.

Lancing and Draining

You can often heal boils with good home treatment. Warm compresses can help them come to a head and drain, which helps them feel better as well as sets them on the way to healing. But if your boil isn't starting to get better after seven days or so, see a doctor. He may lance your boil, or have another treatment option for your boil. Under no circumstances should you try to lance a boil yourself.

Tips for Minimizing Butt Acne

Everyone gets pimples on their backsides every now and again. It's not possible to completely prevent it, but there are some things you can do to minimize butt breakouts.

• Shower immediately after sweating. Sweat can irritate the hair follicles making your bum prone to breakouts. So no hanging out in your yoga pants after workouts.
• Switch to cotton underwear. Cotton breathes better than synthetic material.
• Don't scrub. Scrubbing will irritate already inflamed follicles making blemishes redder and more obvious. Instead, exfoliate with body washes or creams that contain skin-smoothing ingredients like alpha hydroxy acids.
• Don't pick at or pop blemishes. This can make breakouts worse.
• Stay away from tight-fitting bottoms. The friction tight pants cause can trigger a breakout on your buns.