Hello,

I used to have acne (face, chest, back, etc) but it cleared up with diet.

If you are looking for something topical....

I think sulfur is pretty good.

I would.... try to change your sheets once a week..... And perhaps use an all natural detergent?

Another thing is, I have read borax success stories (both internal and external). I personally do not suggest internal, but I have used borax externally, and it works great for acne (I don't know why. I heard about the demodex theory but.... not sure). Also, you can get some type of powder to put on your sheets, or powder your shirts. I used diatomaceous earth. It will help with your sweat.

Anddddd.... try to change shirts often (1 for day, and 1 for night). Change towels frequently.

Sometimes too much harsh things can make your skin worse...

Again, diet cleared me up, but these were some of things I tried and it eased the pain when I slept.

Yes try a bar soap with salicylic acid and sulfur in it. Your skin may get dry but a non scented oil free lotion will help that. You won't smell like sulfur using a sulfur soap. I use them all the time and never smell like rotten eggs.

Grisi sulfur soap works good and its cheap. You can find it at Walmart, target and cvs. Doesn't contain salicylic acid but it works good.

The coral kavi bar is great too.

I'm very pro sulfur and salicylic acid for the treatment of acne.

My moderate (occasionally severe) back acne has cleared up recently. See my post on the oil cleansing method thread.

The only other time it has improved is when I have been burnt by the sun... Not a method I suggest! However, it would keep my back clear for 2-3 months after the initial burn, which I never understood, especially since the sun doesn't help my face.

My personal opinion based on my own experiments, is that the main aggravator of my acne has been anything that 'cleans' my skin. I have tried every cleanser under the sun... The one that was a slight improvement was a very gentle gel cleanser by Avene.

But by far the best improvement has come from not doing anything to the skin on my back & by actively avoiding getting shampoo or conditioner on it.

This was an accidental discovery. After finding out how much oil cleansing & Manuka honey cleared my face, I decided that conventional approaches to cleansing were unnecessary & possibly damaging. I stopped washing my hair as often (remembering a guy at school I'd known who had shiny gorgeous hair, but who only washed his hair once a week with shampoo, and only with hot water at other times.... And he didn't smell!)

I now only use a small amount of jojoba oil (non-comodegenic) as conditioner. I wash my hair once a week by putting a small amount of dilute ecover washing up liquid in a bowl, filling it up with hot water, dunking my head upside-down into it & swishing around then rinsing. I think this prevents too much concentrated surfectant running over your skin & stripping your skin of its oils & acid mantle (that it uses to protect itself from bacteria and other foreign substances).

I think the reason our skin gets oily is that it is desperately trying to reconstruct the acid mantle we are destroying on a daily basis.

I wash my hair every day, or every other day with hot water... Or if it is smelling a little greasy then I use a dilute bowl of bicarbonate of soda to swish my hair in, followed by swishing my hair in a dilute apple cider vinegar solution (which conditions and re-acidifies the scalp/hair after the alkaline Bicarb)

I was surprised to notice my back had cleared up since I hadn't done it for this reason. Another side effect not using soap (apart from on two obvious areas on my body!) is that my mild, but very itchy leg eczema has cleared up.

Just to clarify - I am a complete clean freak by nature & very sensitive to bad smells. But turns out the way we clean with detergents is completely unnecessary to stay smelling fresh! (& I have two very physical jobs)

So, I would consider the possibility that your search for a cleanser to clear your back might be futile. Consider using hot water only & reducing the amount of gunk that gets deposited on or washes over your back from your hair & face.

I know it is hard to imagine - I would have laughed at anyone who said this to me before I tried it. My dad was a chemist (making detergents no less!) and I studied physics.... So my brain was hardwired to dismiss the softly-softly opinion/anecdotal based stuff as nonsense. If there weren't studies indicating efficacy, then I wasn't interested. It is only recently that I started to think about who funds & therefore decides what studies get done. Sometimes it is better to trust the person who isn't trying to sell you anything.

I am not saying I am 100% clear, but approx 90% clear on my back which is way better than any medication, or commercial treatment achieved. I think once I sort my diet out, the rest will clear up.

Oh & please be careful with the above suggestions of diotamacious earth & borax, they can both cause respiratory problems (possible silicosis) and borax isn't considered safe in the EU - particularly as an endocrine disrupter that can effect fertility. :/