I've had moderate yet etremely persistant back acne for years and Im running out of ideas as to how to alleviate it. It's not spread out and I rarely get more than one bump at a time, but I average at least one or two big bumps a week. Neither the usual stuff, (benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid) or the hippie stuff (aloe vera, apple cider vinegar) has worked. Nor have any vitamin supplements I've tried. It seems tied pretty close to what I eat or drink, and I get bumps in specific areas depending on what I had. For example if I drink a few beers I'll have a big one on the center of my back within a day, or I'll get one on my shoulder if I eat anything like chips or french fries. I avoid the triggers that are obvious but I still get big breakouts regularly.

I have very dry, flaky skin, so for the last few weeks I've tried exfoliating with a brush and applying a moisturizer but that really hasn't made much difference either.

The reason I'm posting on this forum is because I seem to have a form of acne that makes both dermatologists and naturopaths just scratch their heads at me, because everything that should work doesn't. So I'd like to ask: do my symptoms sound familiar to you? Is there anyone else who has the same issues I do and, if so, how did you remedy them? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.