Cute name but it’s no laughing matter for guys who have to put up with irritating bouts of acne on their back, shoulders, and neck. What makes it worse is that this condition usually results when you do something that’s actually good for you: exercise. Here are eight ways to control back acne, without giving up your exercise regime.



1. Take a shower immediately after exercising or sweating heavily. Don’t wear sweaty clothes any longer than necessary.

2. Exfoliate your skin with a MenScience’s micromesh Body Buff Gloves when you shower to remove dead skin cells.

3. Wash irritated skin with a salicylic acid soap or a beta hydroxy body wash. Because these ingredients can dry out your skin, only wash broken-out areas with them and use regular soap for the rest of your body.

4. Benzyl peroxide works great as a topical solution for drying up annoying blemishes. But make sure it dries completely before you put on a shirt to avoid stains on clothes.

5. Light cotton and cotton blends are good exercise clothes since they are breathable and allow oxygen to interact with the skin. But if you sweat a lot, cotton can trap sweat and clog pores on your back. Try wearing synthetic fabrics with mesh-like weaves to pull sweat from your skin’s surface. And remember to keep it loose: the point is for air to be able to get to your pores.

6. Long, sweaty hair can aggravate acne if it hangs on or brushes your skin a lot. Consider getting a trim, or at least finding a way to pull it off your back when exercising.

7. Sunlight seems to clear acne up, but the sun’s rays can also damage skin and darken scars and marks permanently. Cover up as much as you can when outdoors and slap on some sunscreen when you go shirt-less. Try a non-greasy sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher, like MenScience TiO2 Sunblock to stay protected without clogging pores.

8. Make sure helmets, backpacks, and other protective exercise gear fit you. Constant rubbing from loose articles can cause skin irritations.