The Benefits of Benzoyl Peroxide on Acne
Benzoyl peroxide trickled upon the acne scene in the 1930s. Why trickled? Because it was not heavily used at first and scientists didn’t understand quite how to administer it and at what dosages. Also, it was initially used in formulations in a powder form which proved explosive and extremely dangerous to work with. But, despite these setbacks, by the 1960s and 1970s benzoyl peroxide grew in popularity to become the mainstay of acne treatment. To this day, only Accutane can rival it for consistent results. Though it’s not a cure for acne.
So what is this acne remedy they call benzoyl peroxide?
Benzoyl peroxide is a molecule which basically creates oxygen. Peroxides all perform this action and contain an oxygen-oxygen single bond. What is so revolutionary about benzoyl peroxide, however, is its ability to penetrate the epidermis. Our epidermis is nature’s barrier. It does it’s job extremely well and prevents most substances from entering into the skin below. What scientists found with benzoyl peroxide is that it is capable of penetrating into the skin and still maintaining its oxygen creation properties.
And how does benzoyl peroxide help keep people acne free?
Skin bacteria, also known as P. Acnes, can only live in an anaerobic environment. This means it can only thrive when there is no oxygen around. You guessed it, benzoyl peroxide creates oxygen and this bacteria can’t survive. It dies, and dies quickly and reliably when oxygen is present. Studies show that upwards of 99% of skin bacteria is zapped with one application of 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide works remarkably well at killing this bacteria—better than any other product on the market, prescription or otherwise. But it also works in another way, through what they call desquamation. Desquamation is a fancy term for sluffing off skin cells. Benzoyl peroxide gets into the pores of the skin and sluffs off skin cells. It also does this on the surface of the skin. This mechanism helps pores from becoming clogged. If that weren’t enough, benzoyl peroxide is also an anti-inflammatory, which brings down inflammation in the skin. You can see this with people who often start out quite red and inflamed with a case of acne. After a few weeks or months on benzoyl peroxide their skin adopts a much less red, more even-toned look. Sure, even-tone is nice, but what’s even better about benzoyl peroxide’s anti-inflammatory response is that it helps prevent clogged pores from progressing into zits. Clogged pores are usually not even visible to the naked eye. When you see a red zit, that means the wall of the pore has actually broken. The body responds to this wall break with inflammation which creates the red color. Benzoyl peroxide works to fight this inflammatory response, thus allowing the body to heal itself more rapidly from a pore wall break. Using benzoyl peroxide from early onset of Acne can help prevent acne scars
Does benzoy peroxide work for acne on the back?
Yes it does, it can work great for back acne but it can work even better with the addition of alpha hydroxyl acid. Just be aware that benzoyl peroxide can bleach fabric when using it on the back.
