Adult acne is now the most common adult skin complaints with one in four adults suffering from it at some point.
A new study is one of the first larger scale studies to confirm that prebiotics applied topically to the skin can help improve acne by over 40%.
Prebiotics are skincare ingredients that selectively stimulate and encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria on the skin.
Like the intestine, skin harbours both bad and good bacteria. It’s the bad bacteria that causes acne, but the good bacteria are essential for healthy skin.
The study, on over 2000 acne sufferers over 25 weeks which was carried out at the Department of Dermatology at the University of Miami in the US and published in the peer reviewed medical journal Dermatology and Therapy, found that a topical cream containing prebiotics resulted in a -40.3% reduction in total acne lesions and -21% in inflammatory acne lesions.
The cause of acne is an interplay of increased sebum production and colonization with cutibacterium acnes (acne bacteria). Prebiotics can aide in the reduction of acne bacteria and an increase in good skin bacteria, effectively altering the balance of bacterial growth on the skin which can result in less acne as well as strengthening skin barrier function to reduce underlying sensitivity and inflammation.
The study authors concluded that the study proved that prebiotics applied topically to the skin support the growth of beneficial skin microbes by promoting good skin bacteria, while at the same time inhibiting the growth of acne bacteria and also exerting anti-inflammatory and skin barrier-protective effects. They also noted that this was a safe long-term acne therapy without any notable negative side effects.
Many chemicals in both skin care products and anti-bacterial acne products destroy good skin bacteria. This in turn weakens the healthy skin barrier allowing more bad skin bacteria inside the skin pore, where it can quickly multiply.
Clarol Silver Serum contains a patented prebiotic, MicroSilver ™ that specifically promotes good skin bacterial growth, while effectively starving acne bacteria.
MicroSilver ™ has been found in two studies to reduce inflammation and infection in acne pustules and skin lesions and was found to be effective at reducing the severity and symptoms of acne infected skin in 70% of patients after a two-week trial period.
In a longer trial on acne sufferers, 93% were able to come off other medicated treatments after applying MicroSilver ™ to their infected skin.
“Microsilver ™ is a pure, metallic silver powder which is a completely natural product with no additives added in the production process. Due to its natural form, it is highly effective in reducing the pathologic microbiology load of the skin while supporting the regeneration of good skin flora, which is an effective therapy for treating acne. It stays active on the skin for up to eight hours and due to its powdered form, it remains on the top layer of the skin without any penetration into the lower dermis, making it a safe long-term acne treatment without any adverse effects,” says dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh.
Charlotte, 30, is from Ashford, Kent has suffered from acne since her teens but unlike other teenagers, her acne never went away and got progressively worse through her twenties.
“By my early 20’s my acne had gone from bad to worse and had developed into severe cystic acne. I was completely psychologically scarred about my skin. I had very few friends and not much of a social life and I never had a boyfriend. I simply didn’t have the confidence to face people with my skin looking the way it did. People thought I was anti-social and strange, but it was all linked to my skin,” says Charlotte.
Charlotte was prescribed contraceptive pills, antibiotics, prescription creams and eventually strong systematic acne medication, which Charlotte describes as a “horrific experience.”
“I got extremely depressed on the medication even though my skin improved a little, but the side effects were so awful, and I felt tired, depressed and ill all the time. After six months I had to come off the medication as I had already been on it longer than is recommended and as a result, I was left with permanently dry eyes and dry lips. When I smiled or laughed it caused all my skin on my lips and around the corners of my mouth to crack, bleed and peel off,” says Charlotte.
Charlotte described feeling drained after coming off the medication and felt she wanted to clean her system of all medications to let it recover.
“I had simply had enough. I’d been through so much pain and had so many side effects and had been feeling so ill for so long I just wanted to let my body just be for a moment,” says Charlotte.
Charlotte more of less hid I her own home while her acne erupted after the stopped the medication. It was during her self-imposed confinement that she began some in-depth research into more natural alternatives for treating acne and that was when she eventually discovered several reviews on Clarol Silver Serum on some acne support groups.
“I hadn’t really investigated the natural route for my acne, as it was so bad I chose to rely on what my doctor’s recommended, but that route had failed me, so I felt I had to at least consider other options. I tried a few suggestions including garlic gel and oatmeal face packs, which did nothing,” says Charlotte.
“But the science behind Silver Serum seemed to be taking an entirely different approach to treating acne. Instead of promising to wipe out the acne and dry up sebum like all the other products did, it claimed to help increase the skin’s good bacteria which would help the skin to naturally fight the acne bacteria. I didn’t even know we had good bacteria on the skin. All the other symptoms of low levels of good skin bacteria such as red, inflamed skin beneath the acne, extreme sensitivity as well as dry patches of skin all rang very true.
“The research I found on skin bacteria said that many acne medications or products wipe out all skin bacteria, good and bad, which is why after prolonged use the skin’s good skin bacteria that not only fights the acne bacteria but also protects skin barrier function, is severely depleted. I figured must have been non-existent after all the strong medications and products I had used over the years.
“However, I won’t pretend that I wasn’t deeply sceptical. I did a lot more research on the product before I finally ordered some. I was mostly convinced by the large amount of very positive and obviously genuine reviews and the logic of the science behind it.
“To my utter amazement when within two weeks I could start to see small but noticeably differences in my skin. The serum was immediately soothing on my skin from the first day I used it and within a few days the redness and inflammation under my acne had started to calm down.
“Within two months of daily use I would say my skin was about 50% improved. I have been using the Silver Serum in combination with a weak retinol cream that someone on another blog had recommended every day and my skin is about 85% better, it has been incredible. I still cannot believe it, and I keep thinking it’s just a phase or a fluke, but my skin has now been mostly clear of live acne for a year. I do still get some spots so its not a total acne cure, but for me it feels like a miracle. People have even told me I have great skin. I have never heard anyone say that to me before.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say that my entire world has changed as a result. I have begun travel. I had not even been on an aeroplane or travelled on my own. I also now have my first relationship with someone I met abroad. I have travelled to see him several times in Austria where he is from and have met his friends and family.
“We’ve also been on holiday to Thailand together and it was wonderful, even though I was really nervous almost every day about the heat causing my skin to erupt again.
“I’m still emotionally healing and I know that my struggle is not over yet but I’m getting there. Not that long ago I wouldn’t even leave the house let alone fly to another country to meet someone. It’s a testament to the huge distance I have come on my road to recovery from acne.
“People will say it’s just spots, but it’s not. Acne is the first thing anyone sees so it ends up being the thing that defines you. To have the first reaction of most people being a horrified stare is something that leaves scars not just on your skin but emotionally and it ends up effecting everything you do and I’m still trying to get over the devastating effect it has had on my self-confidence.”
