Sometimes, even when a breakout looks like your run-of-the-mill acne, it might be something a little different.
It’s called fungal acne, and it’s not very fun.
In this article, we will cover how you can tell if you are dealing with fungal acne, what causes it, and how you can treat it.
Fungal acne is a type of acne that occurs not from the overgrowth of bacteria, but from the overgrowth of a yeast.
This yeast is called malassezia, and while it is normal to find these little fungi on the skin, when there is too much it can clog your pores and cause breakouts.
Fungal acne normally causes little red pimples on the trunk area of the body, like the upper arms, chest, or back, and they tend to not come to a head.
Fungal acne also tends to be particularly irritating, causing itchiness on the area.
Luckily there are a few telltale signs that you are dealing with a fungal, and not a bacterial problem.
Fungal acne is located more on the torso area, which bacterial acne likes camping out on the face.
Also, fungal acne tends to be super itchy, where your usual acne will come with a little bit of inflammation and normally not a lot of itch.
Fungal acne tends to look like little red uniform bumps without “heads” to them, so if you can see a lot of blackheads and whiteheads and they are all different sizes, that is a good sign you are not dealing with a fungus.
Itchy?:
Fungal Acne - Yes
Normal Acne - No
Blackheads and Whiteheads?:
Fungal Acne - No
Normal Acne - Yes
Uniform Sizes?:
Fungal Acne - Yes
Normal Acne - No
Location?:
Fungal Acne - Trunk usually
Normal Acne - Face usually
As you just learned, fungal acne pops up when there is an overgrowth of a fungus that is normally found on the skin, so certain activities or situations that ramp up the growth of fungi, or give it less competition to thrive, can increase your risk of developing fungal acne.
How do you treat fungal acne?
Shampoos like head and shoulders, Neutrogena, or Selsun Blue seem to work for minor cases of fungal acne. You simply apply the shampoo to the affected area when you are showering and use it like a body wash that you can let sit for a few minutes before rinsing.
Certain antifungal creams are available over the counter may work for the treatment of fungal acne. The creams may be labeled for athletes foot, or jock itch, and the active ingredient should be ketoconazole, clotrimazole, or econazole.
For more severe cases of fungal acne, you may need a prescription antifungal topical or oral product. If the breakout seems severe or did not go away when you tried at-home options, it is time to get a professional opinion.
If after reading this article, you have ruled out that you, in fact, do not have fungal acne, but that you have a non-fungal breakout, you may want to look into Strut Acne Formula.
While Strut Acne Formula is not for everyone, if you seem to have true acne breakouts that don’t seem to be responding to your normal over-the-counter acne medications, it might be time to look into something strong.
Strut Acne Formula is a physician-formulated acne compound cream that blends a prescription retinoid with an antibiotic and a skin-soothing B-Vitamin.
Have an Online Visit today to see if Strut Acne Formula is a good choice for your stubborn acne breakouts.
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