Some people appear glamorous on the surface, but in reality, their chest and back are covered with acne. The bumpy texture makes them hesitant to wear stylish or revealing clothes that might expose their skin.
What exactly causes chest and back acne? How can it be treated scientifically?
Why Do Pimples Keep Appearing on the Chest and Back?
Actually, these aren’t regular acne—they’re caused by bacterial or fungal infections.
Many people, especially women, have experienced this common skin condition—folliculitis.
Hair follicles act like tiny factories on our skin, not only producing hair but also secreting oils.
However, sometimes these "factories" get invaded by unwelcome guests—bacteria, fungi, or pathogens.
First, the follicle’s passage gets clogged, then inflammation erupts, forming red, swollen, and painful bumps on the skin.
Folliculitis isn’t limited to private areas, the chest, or the back—it can occur anywhere there are hair follicles.
Many people blame mites for these breakouts, but in reality, the real culprits are often pesky microbes (like the fungus Malassezia)!
Dr. Que Poh Yuen Albert, a TCM dermatology expert at Singapore’s Gong Fang Tang TCM Clinic, explains that from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, the spleen governs water-dampness metabolism. When spleen and stomach functions are impaired, dampness accumulates in the body instead of being properly expelled.
In summer’s heat and humidity, people tend to overindulge in cold drinks, excessive air conditioning, and chilled foods, further burdening the spleen and stomach and worsening dampness.
The chest and back are considered "yang" areas—when dampness builds up, heat and dampness rise to the skin’s surface, clogging pores and triggering breakouts. These pimples are often hard, painful, and recurrent, fading much slower than typical acne.
How to Effectively Treat Acne?
Only by addressing the root cause can these annoying "pimples" be eliminated.
Internal Dampness + External Dampness Easily Trigger Acne
However, treating acne isn’t just about clearing heat.
From the perspective of common TCM acne patterns, there are mainly the following scenarios:
Long-term consumption of greasy, sweet, spicy, or irritating foods damages the spleen and stomach, leading to damp-heat accumulation—breakouts often flare up after a heavy meal.
Chronic fatigue and staying up late deplete yin-blood and cause yin deficiency with fiery heat, resulting in stubborn acne that’s hard to cure.
High stress and emotional stagnation lead to liver qi stagnation and liver fire flaring up, which can also cause acne.
TCM practitioners emphasize that many people’s acne isn’t due to damp-heat but rather spleen deficiency. If heat-clearing methods are overused and further harm the spleen and stomach, dampness becomes even harder to eliminate—which is why acne keeps recurring.
Should You Pop Pimples on Your Chest and Back?
—Whether it's acne, fungal folliculitis, or bacterial folliculitis, avoid scratching or attempting to pop them yourself.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, back acne is mainly caused by three factors, and the location of the breakouts determines the diagnosis:
If acne is scattered across the entire back, it may indicate damp-heat accumulation in the body.
If it’s concentrated around the shoulder blades, it suggests heat in the lungs.
If acne frequently appears along the spine and the back of the thighs, it’s related to damp-heat in the Bladder Meridian.
These conditions can be improved, alleviated, or even completely resolved through:
Herbal medicine
Moxibustion
Massage therapy
Back acne is a common manifestation of excessive summer heat and dampness, with different locations reflecting different internal imbalances. TCM treatments address the root cause by:
Regulating qi and blood
Enhancing metabolic function
Boosting the body’s self-healing ability
This leads to long-term relief rather than just temporary fixes.
