I know that it has been very long since I wrote a post. But trust me, this one will be quite informative for you all. I have touched on Pantothenic Acid for acne in my previous topic, and now I will cover zinc supplement for acne topic. You might be curious about the efficacy of zinc supplement for acne or can taking zinc help with acne? We will answer your questions in this post.
Why I start taking zinc supplement?
I had a serious breakout on my back when I started WFH in March. It lasted for 1 month+ and then gradually it stopped. I had stopped taking Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) for acne. This is because my skin condition was rather stable and I did not really have any breakout before that. It might be a combination of more time spent indoor at home (humid room) and less time spent under the sun that lead to a cystic breakout on my back. It was quite traumatizing to me as the breakout was painful and itchy.
I tried many things to no success: papaya enzyme balm (Lucas’ Papaw), Vitamin C serum, moisturizing it diligently, retinoid cream, BHA liquid.. and the list goes on. I reckoned it might be because of something happening internally inside my body that caused this “symptom” to appear. Not sure what that is until today, but if that’s the case I need to tackle it from inside as well.
I did take Pantothenic Acid again, for around 3 weeks. But then I stopped and was looking for an alternative because of two reasons. First, I did not see any improvement even after 3 weeks (I was impatient!). Second, I may need to increase the dosage but I suffered a bad hair fall after stopping Pantothenic Acid intake. I took 2000mg/day when I try to get my acne under control using Pantothenic Acid. It is already overdosing and I did not want to go even higher, worried about the side effects when I stop the intake one day.
Zinc supplement for acne
I did more research on other supplements for acne that I can take, which are safer and have fewer side effects. I decided to try zinc supplement for acne. Research has shown that among acne sufferers, the level of zinc in their body is lower than other people with healthy skin. I have heard a lot about zinc supplement for acne before and I did try it some years ago but did not like the effect very much. The zinc supplement that I took before gave me nausea everytime I took it. However I want to give zinc supplement another try and I tried a different type of zinc supplement this time.
I restarted my journey with zinc supplement with this Now’s Zinc Picolinate that I got from iHerb. Based on my research, this type of zinc is the best for absorption compared to other types (zinc gluconate, zinc acetate, zinc sulfate, zinc orotate, zinc citrate).
How to take zinc supplement?
Lysine is one type of amino acid and it helps in the building of collagen. L-lysine is commonly used to fight cold sores. Like zinc, L-lysine is also useful to build the body’s immune system. In times of coronavirus, it is also good to take this combo to improve your body’s immunity against viruses. Watch this Youtube video for more info on the combination of L-lysine and zinc supplement for acne.
I usually take my zinc supplement with food or right after food. I take L-lysine 1 hour after.
Can taking zinc help with acne?
Yes! Around 1 month after taking this combo, I saw improvement in my back acne. It dried up, not inflamed anymore. The impact was also obvious on my face. For someone who has very sensitive skin and easily has redness on the skin due to inflammation, at last, I did not have red patches anymore and small pimples do not become red big pimples as easily anymore. This is a major major benefit of my experience with the L-lysine and zinc supplement combination. I totally recommend exploring this route if you are suffering from inflammatory acne.
Do I still take zinc supplement for my skin?
My acne is under control right now, I only have breakout on the chin area nearing my period. I do not take L-lysine anymore but I still take zinc with lower dosage (20mg) every day for skin maintenance purpose. If you have experience with l-lysine and/or zinc supplement for acne, how effective is it for you? Leave your comment below if you have tried it out as well!
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