New year, new me, and with winter almost gone - summer is just around the corner. Regardless of whether you’re obsessing about your beach body or not, if you ever plan to visit a sandy beach or even a swimming pool this summer, your butt will show. And with it… Your butt acne.
Gross.
Yes, yes, I know, it’s super terrible and super embarrassing. I think everyone would gladly trade their butt acne for acne on their face, as bad as that may be. But there’s something especially shameful about having a fiesta of red, sore pimples on your butt. Everyone will stare at your butt for the wrong reasons and make all sorts of nasty assumptions about you, make no mistake there.
Okay, relax. There is a lot you can do to deal with the problem, and thankfully, this is an easier problem to solve than the regular acne. Butt acne isn’t immune to home remedies, while ordinary acne very much is. But before we move on to all the home remedies for butt acne, let’s go back to square one. Is butt acne really acne?
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… It’s a duck, right? Wrong. What looks like acne on your butt isn’t actually real acne. Acne on the butt is something doctors call folliculitis 99% of the time, and that I call buttne. (From butt plus acne, get it?) Basically, folliculitis (or buttne) is when one or more hair follicles become either damaged or infected with a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. Staph aureus is a common citizen of our skin, but it’s not the same as the Propionibacterium acnes bacterium that causes real acne.
So what causes butt acne? Practically anything can damage a hair follicle and make it fresh meat for the Staph aureus. From an overly hot bath, to poor hygiene, to tight or chafing clothes, the factors that can damage a hair follicle are too many to list. The home remedies for butt acne are fewer in number, though, but a lot more effective. Let’s see. Make room, buttne!
It’s always better if you consult a medical professional for any problems with your health. Yes, that applies even in the case of butt acne. Showing them to a doctor or a dermatologist may indeed shorten your path to health. But it may also cause some extra undue embarrassment. Thankfully, the human species has devised tons of simple home remedies for getting rid of butt acne. Shame, it seems, is a powerful motivator. So let’s use it. Here are some of the best, tried and tested, home remedies for butt acne.
Send your butt acne to the beach! Take two cups of warm water and add a teaspoon of salt. Mix it well, then soak a clean cloth in the solution and apply it to the affected area. That would be the butt in this case, yes. You can repeat this treatment three times per day without consequences to your sitting area. Jokes aside, salt is really sodium chloride, which is known to have antibacterial properties.
Of course, you will need precious tea tree oil for this amazing (cough) tea tree oil home remedy, but a tablespoon of another oil too. Put 3-4 drops of tea tree oil in a teaspoon of any other oil you have chosen to act as the carrier of the solution. Olive oil or coconut oil are both fine. Mix the oils and dab some on the buttne. Before you see results, however, you should do this at least 2-3 times a day. Tea tree oil is known for its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory powers, but it can be intense. Take care not to put too much.
This is super simple to do. Take an ice pack, or a bottle of hot water and just hold it to your butt. Keep it there for at least 10-15 minutes, and repeat 2 or 3 times a day. Heat and cold can both put harmful bacteria to sleep, so to speak. Cold, for example, will reduce the inflammation as well. Just try not to set your butt on fire.
Take a cotton ball and squeeze half a lemon on it. Proceed with dabbing your peach - I mean your butt - with it. Especially on the areas settled with butt acne citizens. You can hold the lemony cotton ball on each place for 10-15 minutes, and repeat this process up to 3 times a day. Lemon has anti-inflammatory and astringent properties - meaning it shrinks organic stuff. It will close up your pores and hair follicles, preventing future butt acne breakouts.
Again with the cotton swabs, our loyal soldiers. Take one and dip it in a bit of toothpaste (just a little bit). Then use the toothpaste-smeared cotton ball and dab it gently over each buttne. Careful not to apply any toothpaste over a clean, smooth area of your gorgeous butt, because it may cause irritation. And nobody wants that. Leave it to dry for around ten minutes and rinse it with cool water. It’s not recommended to do this more than 2 times a day. After all, toothpaste contains baking soda, which in addition to removing any oil, also exfoliates skin. So, careful there, doc. Treat your butt gently.
No cotton swabs this time. Just take a bit of sweet coconut oil and apply it to your butt. You can use your fingers, yes. Take some coconut oil in your hand, and gently slide the well-lubricated fingers over any butt acne you have. Then relax, and allow the butt to absorb the coconut oil. You can do this every couple of hours with no ill effects. (The effects are just pleasant, really.) Seriously, though, coconut oil has capric and lauric acid, and these fatty acids have antimicrobial properties. So, more coconut oil?
For this home remedy, you will need some oatmeal, yogurt, and turmeric. Take a tablespoon of each of these and pour it in a clean bowl. Then mix it all well until it forms a thick paste. You know what you need to do next, right? Apply some of this paste over the butt affected with butt acne. Let it dry, and wash it off after 15-20 minutes. You don’t need to do this every day, because it might cause your skin to change color. Once a week is enough for you to be able to see results. The turmeric has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, while the oatmeal acts as a natural scrub, removing dead skin cells.
You know what butt acne hates more than turmeric? Sandalwood. Now imagine those two superheroes joining forces to kick some butt acne ass? Well, you’re about to learn how to do just that. Take one tablespoon of sandalwood and turmeric, respectively, and put them in a bowl. Proceed to add water (or even curd, if you prefer) and begin mixing. Try not to overdo it, because we need to make an anti-buttne paste here. Then, once it is done, smear some butt acne destroying paste on your butt. Allow 10-15 minutes for it to dry and wash it off with water. Repeating this home remedy every other day is fine. Both sandalwood and turmeric boast powerful, natural antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties that make short work of butt acne.
No need for a paste this time. Just take several cloves of garlic, peel it, then chop the cloves in halves. Make sure that the inside of the garlic is exposed. Then, take a clove and press the inner of the garlic to any butt acne you have. Rub it gently over your butt, making you have applied some garlic juice on the affected areas. Allow 30 minutes to an hour for the garlic to make love to your butt acne, then rinse your butt off with lukewarm water. But don’t do this several times a day. It’s okay to skip some days, so 4-5 days a week will be enough. But why garlic? Well, it contains a compound known allicin, which has extraordinary anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It doesn’t only kill the bacteria, but it reduces the inflammation of the skin as well.
Easy. Find a piece of aloe vera. Cut off one of its tiny spiky branches (careful not to prick yourself). Slice the branch in half and take a moment to observe its gelatinous, aromatic insides. Awesome! Then proceed to take the bleeding aloe vera limb and press it all over your butt, targeting zones of butt acne. Let the goo dry for 15-20 minutes, then rinse your butt off. Throw away the plant limb. (Or not, maybe you want to keep it as a trophy. I know I would.) On a serious note though, aloe vera is one of the most powerful anti-acne agents known to man. It can heal, combat bacteria and reduce inflammation at the same time. Oh, it can also shrink pores and prevent future acne breakouts. Take that, lemons!
Back to the cotton balls. Take a glass of water and add 2 tablespoons of tangy apple cider vinegar. Mix well, then dab a cotton ball in it, and proceed to apply this buttne-poisoning mixture to the affected areas of your butt. Apple cider vinegar has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, which is why butt acne hates it. Leave the mixture on your butt for half an hour so it can dry, then wash it off. Three to four times a week is enough to see results.
Very simple. Just take a tablespoon of baking soda and add a bit of water to it. Be careful, because you need to achieve a paste-like consistency. So, very little water is required. Mix it well. After it’s done, apply the baking soda paste to spots of butt acne across the meridians and parallels of your butt globe. Let it dry for 15-20 minutes, then rinse it off with cold water. As we mentioned when we discussed the toothpaste home remedy, baking soda has a number of anti-acne properties. In addition to sucking out any excess oil and acting as an exfoliant, baking soda also changes the pH balance of the skin. This makes it very difficult for some bacteria to thrive. Do this treatment every other day and you should be able to see results.
Butt acne is perhaps the most embarrassing and nightmarish thing in existence, and it’s not even acne. Which makes it even worse, somehow. On top of all the terribleness, it’s also a liar. Anyways, we should all relax, because this is a nightmare that we can easily treat and prevent. Just try some of the many home remedies for butt acne we outlined here, and you should be fine.
In case your butt acne goes out of control, however, you should bite the bullet and see a dermatologist. Embarrassment or not, sometimes it’s better to go to the doctor. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can show your smooth, healthy butt to the world!
This information is meant to supplement, not replace advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and is not meant to cover all possible uses, precautions, interactions or adverse effects. This information may not fit your specific health circumstances, and its goal is to offer a general view of the subject. In case you are suffering from a severe case of acne, you should consult with a dermatologist or a certified medical professional.