Painful spring dilemmas

Andrea Varga-Darabos Painful spring dilemmas 13 May 2016 | 2 minute reading time

Mercurial, quickly warming weather leaves many people with annoying spots on their back and in their cleavage. The problem has many different variants (e.g. spots appearing from the neck down) but they all have one thing in common: it’s all about prevention.

Sometimes itchy or painful, those inflamed, white-centred lumps can be terribly annoying. And then, there is the timing: they rear their ugly heads exactly at the time of the year when we could start to dress a bit more scantly. If it’s not the first time you’re faced with the issue, you may want to know what causes it.

Potential triggers:

Clogged sweat glands and heavy perspiration on a patch of skin smothered with dead skin cells
Non-breathing, tight clothes or dresses unfit for current temperatures
The strap of a bag or rucksack irritating sweaty skin
(Sport) bra that’s not washed frequently enough – or the bra straps are too tight
Synthetic scents found it chemical-based washing powders, gels and textile conditioners

What can you do?

Once warm weather has set in, regularly scrub dead skin cells off your skin with a bath brush or scrub – be gentle yet thorough
Always take a shower after exercise
Switch to natural, chemical-free cosmetics: the different chemicals such as SLS (added for bigger foam) and petrochemicals may create an irritating mixture on the surface of your skin (especially when they mix with sun cream too) and they can clog up your pores
Find the Manna soap that fits you best
Using a cotton pad, wipe the affected area(s) with some camomile-, rose- or lavender flower water after each shower
In particularly oily or spotty areas, apply an extra few drops of tea tree oil. Spread it gently with your fingertips
Finally, spread a bit of shea butter onto the affected skin to help it lock in the moisture and stay soft yet firm.