# Zits, pimples, boils, why is it that **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629 "2024-08-12T20:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/1 "2024-08-12T20:36:26Z")
Am i the first to ask this question. Every human being gets zits, pimples, boils etc . But why is it that they are formed only on the front side of the body and very rarely on the back side of the body. By this i mean why in the front of face, legs, chest etc. Hardly ever on back of neck, back of chest or legs. My theory is that the organisms that infect the skin want the hands to reach the zits and pimples so that they get popped and thus dispersed and spread. Its the organism using the behaiviour of a human to maximise its chances of spreading. What do you all think? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/2 "2024-08-12T20:41:14Z")
Huh? I used to get boils on my middle back as a child, I’ve had plenty of pimples on the back of my neck (more often than the front under my chin). I’ve never had issues on my chest, even though you’d think it would be prime territory for ingrown hairs (a form of pimple). Their tendency to congregate on the cheeks, especially, makes me wonder about some mechanism - less subcutaneous fat? A specific amount? IIRC these are sweat glands that block, fill, and swell and are infected. Perhaps it’s something about where sweat glands are most active yet dry up easily on theouter skin? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/3 "2024-08-12T20:48:42Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > But why is it that they are formed only on the front side of the body and very rarely on the back side of the body. By this i mean why in the front of face, legs, chest etc. Hardly ever on back of neck, back of chest or legs. According to this, it’s all about where there’s a greater concentration of sebaceous glands (face, chest, shoulders and upper back), as it’s clogs to hair follicles (into which the sebaceous glands empty) which cause acne. > **[Acne: Types, Causes, Treatment & Prevention](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12233-acne)** > > Acne is a common skin condition that causes pimples on your skin. These usually form on your face, chest and back. Treatment helps clear acne. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/4 "2024-08-12T20:52:38Z")
According to my body, your theory about being concentrated on the front is incorrect. I get them all over my trunk, neck and head, back and front. And the places where my limbs connect to my trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/5 "2024-08-12T21:05:06Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Huh? I used to get boils on my middle back I, too, have had bacne. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/6 "2024-08-12T21:07:13Z")
I have had some of the worst boils/cysts/etc removed from my butt and back. I get them everywhere but the ones on the back are mischievous little rascals. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/7 "2024-08-12T21:09:01Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > But why is it that they are formed only on the front side of the body and very rarely on the back side of the body. Personal hygiene habits? Inability to see the stuff bubbling up on one’s own back? ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/8 "2024-08-12T21:25:38Z")
The things that crop up on my backside do not need visual confirmation. They make themselves known in a very tactile exhibition. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/9 "2024-08-12T21:27:12Z")
I tend to get pimples, when I get them, on all locations of my body. The only boils I ever had, while I was in Tonga, were on my middle/upper back. My uncle would get boils on his butt. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/10 "2024-08-12T21:27:30Z")
Butt boils are very common in some people. Apparently they are very painful. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/11 "2024-08-12T21:28:27Z")
Yes butt boils are excruciating. I had one that required lancing in the ER after it rapidly grew to the size of a small volcano. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/12 "2024-08-12T22:52:03Z")
According to my uncle, on a late night bathroom trip, my aunt had left the lid down, he sat on the boil, and ended up breaking the towel rack across from it with the top of his head when he jumped. Taught him to turn the lights on. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/13 "2024-08-13T11:30:21Z")
I think this is a lot of it. I’ve have had very painful boils/pimples/ingrown hairs on the back of my legs or my butt - but most of the pimples etc I’ve had on my face have not actually been painful and if I had a small, non-painful pimple on my back, I probably wouldn’t know it was there. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/14 "2024-08-13T18:58:31Z")
> [@Dogginit](#): > > According to my uncle, on a late night bathroom trip, my aunt had left the lid down, he sat on the boil, and ended up breaking the towel rack across from it with the… … **splort!** That’s the next word I was expecting to read & was gonna call 🤨 on your story. Reading the full sentence seems totally plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/15 "2024-08-13T19:17:56Z")
I made a thread of Ivy’s butt boil. She said it wasn’t her butt. It was right where the elastic leg of her panties hit. I called _butt_ on that. She was really sick and ran a high temp., Had to go to the ER over a weekend. They lanced it. Antibiotics, pain meds. A couple follow up doctor appointments. The whole deal. Look up carbuncle on Google, if you’re brave. It was an awful experience for her. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/16 "2024-08-13T21:21:04Z")
I have always thought it’s weird that “carbuncle” can mean either a disgusting pus-filled boil, or a beautiful precious gemstone. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/17 "2024-08-13T21:35:17Z")
Of similar color. Or at least, the ancients thought so. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/18 "2024-08-15T19:09:58Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I have always thought it’s weird that “carbuncle” can mean either a disgusting pus-filled boil, or a beautiful precious gemstone. If you squeeze a lump of coal hard enough you get a diamond. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zits-pimples-boils-why-is-it-that/1005629/19 "2024-08-15T19:18:53Z")
Ever hear of hypochlorous acid? An OTC spray add it to your skin cleanse regime. > **[What Is Hypochlorous Acid? And Why Should You Use It?](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/hypochlorous-acid-skin-care)** > > What can fight both COVID-19 and acne? The answer is hypochlorous acid, an antimicrobial that is made by your body and now replicated for use in various skin care products. Learn the benefits from a dermatologist at Cleveland Clinic.