TikTok may feel like a font of remarkable pores and skin care tips and inspiration, but healthcare gurus don’t usually think so.
“I assume it is important to constantly be careful about what is stated on TikTok and usually discuss with a professional or a board-accredited skin doctor when it comes to your own personalized pores and skin regimen to ensure what you are applying is excellent for your pores and skin,” New York City board-accredited skin doctor Dr. Marisa Garshick told HuffPost. “It is vital to bear in mind that just due to the fact you see it on TikTok, doesn’t necessarily mean it is necessarily harmless and does not suggest it is necessarily excellent for you.”
This is especially correct of acne solutions. HuffPost requested Garshick and other dermatologists to share the pimples hacks and fads they’ve observed on TikTok but do not propose making an attempt.
From skin icing to the “potato hack,” beneath are seven acne therapy trends you’re better off steering clear of.
1. Toothpaste as a location treatment method
“The thought of putting toothpaste on acne as a place cure has been about for a long time, based mostly on the antibacterial properties similar to an ingredient beforehand utilised in toothpastes named triclosan and the drying attributes related to baking soda and hydrogen peroxide,” Garshick explained. “But it is vital to keep in mind that this can direct to irritation and dryness of the pores and skin, particularly when utilized all around, as some on TikTok are executing.”
Most commercially offered toothpastes no lengthier incorporate triclosan, and even if they did, dermatologists even now place to the prospective for irritation and even chemical burns.
“We have lots of excellent zits-fighting components these as salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, retinoids and extra, that we really don’t need to depend on toothpaste for our acne any longer, no subject how hassle-free it may be,” Garshick stated.
2. The ‘potato hack’
Another TikTok trick that went viral is the “potato hack,” in which men and women place parts of uncooked potato about their pimples to make them go absent.
“Some justify this [by saying] potato can include little quantities of salicylic acid, but this uncooked potato application stunt to extreme acne breakouts is just silly and ineffective,” mentioned Dr. Melanie D. Palm, a board-accredited skin doctor and medical director at the Art of Skin MD in Southern California.
“Why would a person apply a uncooked vegetable to the facial area when productive acne breakouts therapies exist above the counter (retinoids, benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid) that have demonstrated performance AND protection accepted by the Food and Drug Administration?” she asked.
She extra that potato allergy symptoms are rare but exist and can direct to critical indications, as can cross-reactive allergic reactions to potato due to other recognised allergens like latex and birch pollen.
3. Skin icing
“Using ice on pimples and to de-puff your face is not perilous as lengthy as it’s finished adequately,” mentioned Dr. Annie Gonzalez, a board-accredited skin doctor in Miami. “Very generally, pimples or cysts are inflamed. Ice brings down inflammation.”
Nonetheless, she cautioned from making use of an ice cube to your bare skin. In its place, wrap it in a washcloth and go over the area in a light-weight, steady motion. Do not rub. And follow that step with a medical doctor-recommended acne breakouts treatment method like salicylic acid, she included.
Dr. Sheila Farhang, a board-licensed skin doctor based in Arizona, echoed Gonzalez’s guidance not to implement ice specifically to your encounter.
“Direct ice can hurt the pores and skin ― believe microscopic frostbite,” she stated. “For puffiness, I propose putting a moisturizer in a pores and skin fridge, so it is awesome but not too cold, as this can modify the formulation. Rollers created of rose quartz or jade are inherently cooling stones so this is also a good choice.”
Farhang also warned against pores and skin icing as a treatment method for melasma.
“I basically cringe when I see folks recommending icing their skin to assist with their melasma ― this can really worsen it, specified that when it will come to melasma, something that brings about redness or discomfort will convert brown,” she reported. “SPF is way additional important!”
4. Masking your facial area with Band-Aids
Another well-liked zits cure craze on TikTok is masking your experience with Band-Aids.
“This is actually a Band-Support repair!” Palm explained. “It is ineffective and simply occludes an inflammatory zits lesion from the bordering surroundings. This would be powerful for an person that picks each individual one zits lesion, but this Band-Support hack in no way is therapeutic in improving active acne.”
She additional that the skin usually tolerates hydrogel bandages reasonably properly, but there is however a prospective for allergic reactions. And if the Band-Aids are still left on way too extended with no cleaning, secondary skin bacterial infections could establish.
5. Ingesting chlorophyll h2o
Consuming liquid chlorophyll to apparent up acne breakouts grew to become preferred in the environment of skin treatment Twitter before this year, but dermatologists are hesitant to recommend it offered the deficiency of scientific investigation on its usefulness in treating pimples.
“Chlorophyll is protected for human use, but the rewards are not demonstrated. It’s probably a far better notion to get chlorophyll from consuming environmentally friendly veggies,” stated New York City dermatologist Dr. Hadley King. “There are some trials that have revealed that topical chlorophyll can assist lower acne since of its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities. But we really don’t but have facts about oral chlorophyll’s outcomes on acne breakouts.”
So although you may find some added benefits from consuming chlorophyll, you may possibly expertise even much more from eating a well balanced diet plan substantial in vegetables, which has other positive consequences on the human body as a full. And really don’t be expecting it to apparent your critical cystic acne breakouts.
6. Applying lemon juice to cut down scarring
Working with lemon juice to lighten or clear away pimples scars may seem like an innocuous trick, but dermatologists beg to vary.
“As we are all wonderfully distinct, a skin treatment program or remedy that is terrific for one human being may possibly not be the ideal alternative or could even be destructive to another person else,” mentioned Dr. James Ralston, a dermatologist based mostly in Texas. “For instance, lemon juice is hugely acidic and when used to the skin can induce irritation, particularly for all those with delicate skin. It can also cause discoloration, specially for people with darker pores and skin sorts.”
Just since a thing looks “all natural” or looks like a fast deal with on TikTok does not necessarily mean it’s highly recommended to use on your skin.
“Applying a robust citrus acid to your face, this kind of as lemon or lime juice, can create a phototoxic reaction when you go in the sunlight foremost to blistering, burns and hyperpigmentation,” said Dr. Brian Hibler of Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York Metropolis.
7. Spraying salt water
Spraying your confront with salt water to treat pimples is commonly harmless, but there’s no real data to assistance its success, mentioned King.
“The salt could assist to dry up pimples, and there could be a delicate anti-inflammatory impact. But we have considerably better, science-backed alternatives!” she spelled out.
“Some of the TikTok people declare that sea h2o balances skin pH and kills microbes, but these claims aren’t definitely correct,” King ongoing. “Acne-prone skin has an alkaline pH and sea water also has an alkaline pH, close to 8. You’d want to use an acidic pH like salicylic acid or glycolic acid to be helpful. And whilst sea salt water does have antimicrobial homes, they’re not truly sturdy ample to squash acne.”
She also famous that striving this hack could guide a individual to set off observing a board-licensed dermatologist to get started a a lot more science-backed therapy ― a hold off that could result in a lot more zits, discoloration and scarring.
