Clear Skin with Neosporin?
Posted: Wednesday, May 31, 2006
by Donald Amodeo
Acne-Vitamins.com
One of the most popular topical antibiotics on the market, Neosporin is typically applied to small wounds in order to prevent infection and speed healing. However, more recently Neosporin has also become popular as an alternative acne treatment for those who have found little luck with the typical acne products.
While Neosporin may in fact be a very effective means to clear skin for some, it is wise to remember that this is a powerful antibiotic, with some potentially serious side effects for those who rely on its long-term use to treat acne. Neosporin may be the answer if you only need a temporary spot treatment, but choosing to use a serious antibiotic as your everyday acne solution is not a good idea.
While the benefits of Neosporin may sound great, potential users should also take into account the warnings that Pfizer has taken the time to print on the label. Precautions such as “Do not use over large areas of the body" and “Do not use longer than 1 week unless directed by a doctor" are serious warning signs for acne sufferers. Neosporin kills a lot more than just the P. Acnes bacteria that is primarily responsible for the formation of acne pustules. It also eliminates many agents that normally help your skin resist harmful bacteria. With long-term use, there is a danger that your skin may build up an antibiotic resistance which could end up making you more susceptible to serious infection down the road.
Because of these considerations, the continual use of a strong antibiotic like Neosporin is generally to be avoided. It should be noted that Pfizer is well aware that some acne sufferers turn to Neosporin as a clear skin solution, and yet they still do not market or promote this use. In fact, in response to emails on the subject, Pfizer has stated this application of Neosporin as unintended and not recommended without the consent of a medical professional.
Acne can be a stubborn problem to solve, and it’s hard to ignore any treatment that might work, but personally I would only recommend Neosporin as a temporary spot treatment for those really serious pimples. The warnings are there for a reason, and as the label says, this is not something you should be applying for longer than a week. Likewise, applying Neosporin over large areas of skin is also something to be avoided. If all you need is to take the red out of the occasional stubborn zit, Neosporin should be perfectly safe, simply avoid relying on it as an all-in-one clear skin solution.
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Don Amodeo is the webmaster of Acne-Vitamins.com, where you can find vitamin B5 acne products and a free guide to vitamins for clear skin. This article may be republished provided that the author's information and all active links are left intact.
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More commentscool! my zit just sharnk a LOT
I absolutely agree with this article. In fact, in finding this article, I was actually trying to find some of the topics I'd seen earlier this week on using Neosporin for acne so that I could respond with similar points. Using too much of an antibiotic for any reason has risks.
I suffer from acne and one random night I applied Neosporin to my acne and noticed it really helped the small zits over night. I've been using it twice a day for the last 3 weeks and now I know that is a very bad decision. Thanks for this warning however I will use Neosporin on small little zits if needed.
This article was helpful and know i now that Neosporin shouldn't be used often.
This article was informative, though I was never planning to use it consistantly. I just use it once before bed when my acne and skin had been picked at and accidently torn to the point where it began to bleed. I basically was using it as you would normally do with a cut; I used it to help speed up the process and appearance when the skin would heal over the section that was torn (I know that was a bad habit to do, but when my skin would try to heal, it began hard to not pick at and would show terribly when tried to have been covered up with makeup). The neosporin helped heal the skin a whole lot better; it didn't completely heal the acne bump where it had disappeared but it did help prevent me from picking at it in the furture.
Would the risks be lessened by using a Bacitracin zinc-only ointment? I mean, I know there is still a chance of building a resistance to it, but would it be so bad to be resistant to just one topical antibiotic? That way I could still use Neosporin or Polysporin if I got a cut. Iif that's still a big no-no, would it be okay to use this once or twice a week as an acne treatment instead of every night? Or is that still too much?
Excellent article, thank you for taking the time to write this
good thing i read this... because i just tried it and i was going to use it as a permanent solution because it cleared my face up about 60% in about an hour, so i think that i will use it when it gets bad and then just keep my face clean and try to avoid acne as much as possible.
Try paula's choice choice 2% BHA lotion. Big improvement
Good to know, I never thought about it that way, but YOU ARE TOTALLY RIGHT! if you use any kind of antibiotics for tooo long your body can get a resistance to them. From now of I will only use it for those super bad ones . Thank you!
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