Hi Skin Geeks I have hopped over to you to ask for some advice for my daughter.

She is 17 and has her School Ball in June she is wearing a strapless gown, her problem is her back it is very spotty.
What can she do or use on it to help?
She wants to start using a fake tan but wants to get rid of the spots first.
Ant thoughts are greatly appreciated

Spots are extremely hard to get rid of. I have had a lifetime of problem skin, from early teens until the last 18 months or so. I have it under control now but when I was younger I never wanted to wear clothes that showed too much skin on the chest back and shoulders. I really sympathise. Has she seen her doctor about this? A topical antibiotic may help, and may work more quickly than an oral one (these are notoriously slow with skin probs.)
However, even if you use something that creates a dramatic improvement, there is always the possibility with problem skin that you will have a breakout the day before a special occasion. I would definitely get some camouflage make up. I used to put foundation on my chest and get my sister to do my back, that would really help to cover blemishes, but if the spots are very red or lumpy something more than foundation might be a good idea, like Coverderm or something like that. HTH's x

Hi,

I suffered with this problem for ages. A few things that helped - witch hazel wiped over the back after showering in the morning, and wipe again with witch hazel in the morning. Tell her as much as its so tempting to pick...DON'T! it'll just take 4-5 days then to scab over and heal. Stress is a massive cause of the spots possibly - i found my back finally cleared up when i stopped worrying about things as much, then the morning of my wedding...TADAAA they were! And i had a backless wedding dress!
Thank goodness for concealer is all i can say!

Try changing bed clothes as often as poss, when she sweats (i don't mean like a man!) in bed it'll collect in the bed clothes and be in contact with her back again the following night.

Topical creams can help, it can take a while to find the right one for her. I tried creams and pills. The pills seemed to work, but once i came off them....they they were again. Another thing that can help is the contraceptive pill. If she speaks to her doctor, they will be able to recommend which one.

Good luck, and don't worry, it's only temporary, it will go in the end!

I know i'm not a skin geek but can i ask,are they zit like spots or more like lumps ?

This can be treated in the facial room. Get her some appointments with your favorite esthetician.

Exfoliation is key. Those textured gloves work well in the shower with a good skin polish that is geared toward acne type skin. Be sure the glove stays clean and gets dry between showers. Have her stay with it everyday.

Alpha & Beta Hydroxy Acid creams ...AHA which is naturally derived from sugar cane, helps with exfoliating the outer, dead layer of glue like skin cells, tiny ingroan hairs and helps kills bacteria.

My eldest daughter suffered with this problem.I gave mine a back facial( should we be calling them Backials), with galvanic and high frequency and it cleared it . Phone a few of your local salons to see if they will do it or phone your local beauty college as they will almost certainly do it ( at a fraction of the cost)

Or freckle type spots or pigment type of spots ? spots leaves alot to the imagination. LOL.

They are zit like spots they start off red then turn in to a full blown zit.

I'm not a skin geek either, but when I was a teen I had back acne too, and one thing that did help was getting a tan, but I know that sunbed use is not ideal, so as Sophiea has said about the Alpha & Beta Hydroxy creams, I have been using Palmers in a green bottle, its only about £3.50. I've been using it on my keratosis pliaris on my arms and whilst they're still not great, they have improved.

I had the same problem as a teen, i now offer a purifying back treatment which envolves steam treatment, exfoliation and application of clay masks to balance out the oilyness of the skin, a course of these treatments could help to dry out the spots, i would advise her to have something like this done to help prior to having tans applied, hth xx