nine reasons to use benzo peroxide I bet you didn't even know about well hey guys as a board certified dermatologist I'm a huge fan of benzo peroxide and frequently recommend it for the treatment of an array of different skin conditions benzo peroxide helps cut down on problematic bacteria that can lead to skin problems benzo peroxide also is mildly carotic meaning it helps to a certain extent with exfoliating the skin and breaking up clogged pores so the number one use for benzo peroxide which I'm sure most of you are aware of is well is an acne
treatment benzo peroxide is bacteria cidal against the acne causing bacteria cue bacterium acnes what that means is it can substantially reduce the burden of this acne causing bacteria and ultimately helps to clear up and prevent breakouts because benzo peroxide has that carotic effect as well it can help cut down on the clogging of pores that lead to blackheads and white heads otherwise known as closed and open Comey dones Beno peroxide also has mildly anti-inflammatory properties which make it effective for the treatment of acne one of the huge advantages of incorporating benzo peroxide into an acne
treatment plan is that if it is used alongside either oral or topical antibiotics which are frequently used first line in the treatment of acne it can help cut down on the risk that the bacteria on your skin become resistant to those antibiotics which is amazing recently I did a video All About antibiotic resistant resistant bacteria and strategies to avoid this serious issue which can lead to many problems so check that out if that is of interest to you but benzo peroxide applied topically whether it be in a wash or leave on form is an effective
ingredient for reducing this risk furthermore benzo peroxide when used in conjunction with other acne treatments such as topical adapalene a retinoid FDA approved for the treatment of acne can actually help those ingredients work even better so for example adapalene alone versus benzil peroxide alone versus combining the two you get better results with the combination than you do with either ingredient alone so they work well together there's even a prescription topical that includes both ingredients combined together in one topical making it easier to use you may be aware of this it's called epid duuo but acne
aside what else is this ingredient helpful for this may come as a huge surprise to you it's going to break down the stereotypes you may have about how this condition is approached but yes benzil peroxide can actually be very helpful in the treatment of rosacea now rosacea I know you guys are thinking what that's that sensitive skin condition and benzo peroxide is drying it can be irritating how the heck is someone with praa supposed to use benzol peroxide well it can end up being very helpful in reducing the number of the little bumps that come
about with rosacea the papules the red bumps that can be filled with pus benzo peroxide may also to a certain extent offer benefit in reducing the burden of Demodex mites on the skin surface whether it be the mites themselves or the little bacteria that live in association with the mites benzo peroxide may also be working against those things to help control the rosacea if you aren't aware these mites and the bacteria associated with them do play a role in rosacea pathogenesis meaning the underlying root causes of this sensitive skin condition with bouts of flushing and
blushing as well as red papules and pules but how do you get around the side effects of dryness and irritation for somebody with rosacea well we have a newer prescription topical form of benzo peroxide brand name is epsol it's an encapsulated benzo peroxide basically the benzo peroxide is suspended in these little silica shells that allow it to be slowly released onto the skin surface mitigating dryness and irritation it also allows for the benzil peroxide to be better localized within the pore due to the small size of the individual particles and it allows for depositing this
ingredient on the skin for efficacy while minimizing the dryness the irritation that can come about as a result of benzo peroxide now over the counter you can buy benzo peroxide without a prescription it comes in a variety of different forms you have Lon products you have short contact therapy approach with a mask meaning something you put on leave on for a defined period of time and then rinse off and then you have face washes wash forms where you're just lathering very short contact with the ingredient and then you rinse it off the skin any of
these forms can be effective but when we're talking about rosacea specifically you might find that you tolerate a wash form much better than a leave on product it's not to say that leave on products that you buy without a prescription are off the table formulations of benzol peroxide over the years have come a long way and there are many excellent options out there that are much less irritating for example I often recommend the Neutrogena stubborn acne am treatment it's a 2.5% micronized benzo peroxide it tends to be a lot less irritating in comparison to other
formulations out there um but is as effective all right moving on this is something I know a lot of y all deal with when it comes to removing hair and that is ingrown hairs full-blown condition known as pseudo foliculitis Barb basically as you cut the hair or remove the hair it grows back with a sharp point and it curves down and pierces the neighboring skin as it grows it grows down into the skin that it is pierced in your skin is like what the heck get this hair out of here cuz hair is not supposed
to be in just random places in your skin it's only supposed to be in your hair follicle hair outside of the hair follicle in the skin is like get this out so your body mount a foreign body reaction to that hair and that can lead to these very painful pimples that can scar they can ooze they can drain very uncomfortable topical benzo peroxide is very helpful in the treatment of pseudo foliculitis Barb that coupled with changing up hair removal approaches and the way that you shave and the way that you remove hair using different techniques
all can help alleviate pseudo foliculitis Barb benil peroxide will help cut down on the bacteria on the skin surface that flare up the painful nodules it's also carotic so it may help with keeping those hairs out of the skin and if you're wondering what are some good techniques and approaches to minimizing ingrown hair formation check out my video on tips and tricks for preventing ingrown hairs because there are a lot of little things you can change up will make a huge difference in ingrown hair formation number four is going to come as a surprise to
you maybe you've never heard of this because it's not something that anyone really talks about at all but trust me a lot of people deal with this it's called aggressive macular hypomelanosis a lot of adults teenagers if you have a deeper skin tone you start developing this you might freak out and think that you have Vitiligo but what is it exactly it's the eruption of these little small oval hypopigmented flat spots hypopigmented meaning your skin is much lighter than your background normal skin color so as you can imagine this freaks people out they think they're
developing full-blown Vitiligo it's interesting it tends to happen on the trunk primarily very rarely it can extend to the arms and the neck and for the longest time we had no idea why this was happening now in a lot of cases it eventually just goes away on its own within about four or 5 years but for some people it persists and persists and persists if you have it there's a good chance you want to get rid of it so we did a little sleo thing and come to find out guess who is playing a role
in this and is identified in these lesions the acne causing bacteria ctie bacterium acnes yes that's right there is no acne with this condition there no pimples there no black heads they're no white heads instead the acne causing bacterium seems to be initiating some sort of series of events that suppresses pigment production the reason we know it's cutie bacterium acnes in these spots is that we can take a special tool called a woods lamp Turn the Lights Out turn this light on and shine it over the spots and the spots flues this red color and
that is indicative of cutie bacterium acnes the acne treatment benzo peroxide which we talked about being effective for acne and that it reduces the burden of cutie bacterium acnes on the skin guess what used as a body wash to these areas or even a leave on version if that's something you're motivated to do can help get rid of this speaking of leave on forms one thing you have to understand about benzo peroxide that limits a lot of people's acceptance of using it is that if you leave it on the skin and your skin comes in
contact with Fabrics it will bleach those Fabrics which is a nuisance especially when we're talking about something all over your chest or back for example you don't want to have a product that is going to bleach your shirt so in that case I think using a wash form that you use in the shower is a much better way to take advantage of this ingredient for this condition without destroying your clothing just lather it on your skin while you're in the shower and you might want to leave it on the skin for a few minutes and
then rinse it off number five is hydradenitis supurativa this is an inflammatory skin condition that starts at the level of the hair follicle the hair follicle for whatever reason is predisposed to get getting uded blocked up and you then develop this painful nodule that can drain it can join together with other inflamed nodules forming a full-on sinus tract that drains these painful boils and nodules draining sinus tracts tend to involve the areas in the underarm area under the breast in the abdominal folds between the buttocks the thing about this Condition it's not an infection however
the problem with this condition is that it sets the stage for impaired skin barrier function you have these nodules and what comes along are bacteria that form what are called biofilms the bacteria then drive more inflammation that ultimately aggravates the hyr antis ativa not surprising we do use a lot of antibiotics to treat this condition again not because it's an infection but antibiotics do have anti-inflammatory Properties Plus there is likely some element of a bofilm going on further driving the condition benzil peroxide however can be very useful in cutting down on the formation of these
bumps as well as helping to get rid of existing ones now when used in conjunction with antibiotics just as with acne it will help cut down on the risk that those antibiotics lead to bacterial resistance which is huge but remember benzo peroxide is also carotic and it is anti-inflammatory all of these things are advantageous for hyrus suppurativa so if this is something that you are struggling with you're dealing with do know that benzo peroxide which you can buy over the counter without a prescription either in a wash or leave on form can be very helpful
for htis ativa in terms of cutting down nodule formation and flares that being said this is not a standalone treatment you're unlikely to clear the disease just with benzo peroxide but it's definitely a starting point and it plays a supportive role in an overall treatment plan number six is actually something that I really hope none of you deal with but um maybe you've heard of it pressure ulcers otherwise known as decubitus ulcers pressure ulcer is exactly what it sounds like prolonged pressure on the the skin starves the skin of oxygen and the skin kind of
dies off almost like a little heart attack and you get an ulcer this is a huge problem for people who are immobilized in bed say in the hospital the Intensive Care Unit or in a nursing facility patients in these circumstances require somebody to be there to move them in the bed in a scheduled fashion so they're not laying on any one particular area for a prolonged time these ulcers actually are a source of morbidity and mortality meaning further health problems and subsequent death because they're very difficult to treat and they open up the individual to
the risk of serious infections that can get into the bloodstream and be life-threatening benil peroxide actually can be very effective in the approach to managing decubitus or otherwise known as pressure ulcers because a it is antibacterial so it cuts down on those bacterial biofilms that impair healing it also encourages the formation of what is called granulation tissue and subsequent epithelial ization of those ulcers meaning basically helps push things to closing up more readily so yeah it can be pretty helpful for those pressure ulcers number seven is foliculitis foliculitis is a tricky condition of the hair
follicle fools a lot of people that think they have acne but it's not acne foliculitis is just a medical term for inflammation around the hair follicle and there are tons I mean tons and tons of different types of foliculitis it can be an infection or it can be a primary skin condition affecting the follicle but the way it presents often times are well basically pimples as well as little pus bumps can be a painful a lot of people are predisposed to a type of foliculitis called bacterial foliculitis due to infections with staff bacteria now I
have a whole video on foliculitis I need you to watch that video If you deal with it because requires kind of a different approach but guess who is helpful in the management of bacterial foliculitis benzo peroxide yes that's correct it reduces the burden of bacteria on the skin in a safe way a way in which we don't have to worry about these bacteria becoming resistant to it because resistance to benzo peroxide by the bacteria is just not a thing so it's great and it's also carotic so it can help get in there into the pores
and into the hair follicle and help kind of unclog that infectious mess a lot of people are predisposed to recurrent outbreaks of bacterial foliculitis with sta bacteria because they're just colonized with problematic strains of the bacteria especially like in their nose for for example and so benzil peroxide can be really helpful now a lot of people deal with bacterial foliculitis on their scalp lots of hair follicles on our scalp and they too can lead to a bacterial foliculitis now that being said benzo peroxide can be used in the scalp however it will bleach your hair
so it's not great in that regard number eight is one I talk about a fair amount and recommend when people are asking me about controlling body odor benol peroxide can be really helpful in cutting down on body odor when used under the arms in skin folds because again cuts down on the bacteria that would otherwise break down sweat and contribute to Mal odor it is a great deodorizing ingredient in that regard it doesn't reduce sweat output but it does help cut down on Critters that break down sweat and contribute to odor not just body odor
but also foot odor I mean feet are part of your body but a lot of times when people are asking about body odor they're specifically talking about the underarm area but feet can be Mal odorous and benzil peroxide is great speaking of malodorous feet the final condition for which benzil peroxide is going to be your friend is a foot condition called pitted katalis this is something that people who work standing up in shoes that don't have good air circulation who sweat a lot are young athletes who maybe are not changing their socks frequently it's very
common in teenage boys actually um they develop a bacterial skin infection on their feet with a type of bacteria that creates these little pits hence the name and the reason it does that it creates little pits in the skin because the bacteria produce an enzyme that digests the Keratin proteins and lead to those little pits and in doing so they release these sulfur compounds that are rather malodorous I mean very very foul smell the feet kind of have this slimy appearance to them and the treatment is a topical antibiotic to get rid of that bacterial
infection benzo peroxide can be very useful as a foot wash for helping to clear this up and prevent recurrences when you wash your feet with benzol peroxide don't just wash the bottoms of your feet wash in between your toes your toes trap bacteria and dead skin cells and moisture and can actually lead to something called an interweb space infection and benzo peroxide can be helpful and cutting down on the risk of that as well all right guys that's a wrap up with regards to all of the ways in which benzo peroxide might just be what
you're looking for I hope this video was informative and educational now back in April there was quite a bit of noise being made with regards to detection of benzene and benzol peroxide so if you're wondering about that on the inss Slate I'm going to link my recent video all about this topic I want you to watch that video um and it answers a lot of your questions so I will link that on the end slate and if you don't know what the end slate is it's basically the slide that pops up once I go away
and you'll see a thumbnail to a video if you just click on that thumbnail it will take you to that video anyways guys I hope you enjoyed this one if so give it a thumbs up share it with your friends and as always don't forget yet sunscreen And subscribe I'll talk to you guys tomorrow bye [Music]
