Skin colored acne like bumps spreading all over my body

Hi there,

A few months ago I started getting small acne like bumps all over my cleavage area. After a while it spread to my forehead then my cheeks then back, neck and shoulders. They are not itchy. Some of the red ones have small whiteheads but nothing really comes out if popped. Most of them are skin color, some are red.

Around the same time they started I did stop taking my birth control pills which I have been taking for 10 years. I have since started taking them again. Could that have something to do with it, could it be hormonal?

Considering how they've spread I think it might be some sort of bacteria.

It's getting worse all the time. I keep my skin as clean as possible but it's not stopping. Does anyone know what it might be and how I can get rid of it?

[Sullyfish]

Acne in general isn't always bacterial... Inflamed acne is because of damage to oil glands that are filled with dead skin and oil housing acne bacteria. This type of acne is red, sore, sometimes pustulant, etc. Non-inflamed is essentially the same thing but without infection.

This sounds like acne... and the reason why nothing much comes out of your inflamed acne might be because your body is handing the infection well, or you are not popping them correctly (it's best to just not pop them at all, but if you want them to come to a head and pop by themselves, hot wet facecloths work well). It's important to pop them this way, if you're going to do it, because it draws the infection out; conventional popping methods allows the infection to be pushed deeper into your skin. I suspect this is a side effect of stopping birth control pills after a long period of time. I suspect... that it will clear up on its own since you are back on it again... but even if you stop taking birth control altogether, your acne will go away *eventually, but it could be a hellish transition. Try using products with salicylic acid/Alpha hydroxy acid on the areas and it may be of some help.