Should you use a probiotic or a prebiotic for skin care?

A dermatologist gives an idea of ​​the microbiome of your skin

Not now. We do not know enough, and the subject is more complex than it may seem. We are starting to see how skin care companies and supplement companies rush into brisk sales, but wait. Understanding the skin microbiome is still at an early stage, and no one knows enough to come to conclusions.

The microbiome of your skin is diverse and complex, affects the health of your skin and the overall condition of your body.

The microbes on your skin interact; they differ in different parts of your skin (face, fold, dry area, oily area, etc.); they play a role in skin immunity; and they can help or harm the health of your skin. Exactly how it works, although it is an actively developing field of research.

We do not know enough to say which skin germs are beneficial or harmful, what should be the optimal diversity of the population, where and when on your skin. It is too early to try to “supervise” the microbiome of your skin with a probiotic or prebiotic (products that help some germs grow). I recommend you wait. If this is an interesting topic for you, listen, but for now do not draw conclusions. These are the first days.

Many people with skin problems, such as rosacea, eczema, or acne, seek to gain knowledge about probiotics and prebiotics to help their complexion.

A skin microbiome seems like a logical place to answer. We know that having a certain level of microbial diversity is important for healthy skin, free from skin problems. We still do not know exactly what it means. Research also shows that the microbiome of your skin also affects the physiology of your entire body.

Did you know that the surface area of ​​your skin, when you turn on the surface of each pore, is 30 square meters, which is about 320 square feet?

This is huge! To put it in perspective, the first house I owned was a 420 square foot condominium in New Orleans – it was a small apartment, but for your skin it is huge! And each of your 320 square feet of skin is covered with your skin microbiome – for better or for worse. What we do and how we do it to create an optimal skin microbiome is unclear. The bottom line is that it is still early to know what to do. Companies claiming otherwise to try to sell you products use questions, not answers.

How do I, a dermatologist, recommend helping you maintain a healthy microbiome of your skin?

Skin care that supports skin health.

Carefully look after the skin, moistening and without excessively drying it, using rigid clarification. This is important for the microbiome of your skin. We also know that it matters to your general physiology, immune function and optimal health. Skin health or problems do not have only superficial effects. I recommend avoiding detergents that have broad antimicrobial ingredients such as triclosan and benzalkonium chloride. Use mild detergents and hypoallergenic moisturizers to protect the skin and enhance the barrier function of healthy skin. Solve skin problems, in particular, with the help of products aimed at correcting those aspects of the problem that we understand, be it pimples, rosacea, seborrhea, skin infections, etc. immunosuppressive and causes degradation and weakening of the skin structure.

Keep your overall physiology healthy:

• Eat a low-glycemic, moderate or low-fat vegetarian diet. If you have acne, think about restricting dairy products in mammals. (this affects the microbiome of your skin).
• Exercise regularly.
• Spend time in nature (this is useful for your psyche, but now we know that vegetation does affect the microbiome of your skin – yes, the plot thickens!).
• Moderate stress and good night sleep.

These are well-accepted lifestyle guidelines that will help keep your immune system healthy, and a healthy immune system will support the microbiome of healthy skin.

For more skin care tips and dermatologist tips, click here.

Recommendations

Gallo RL, human skin – the largest epithelial surface for interaction with microbes, J. Invest Derm. 2017 June; 137 (6): 1213-1214 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814118/

Salem I et al., Intestinal Microbiome as the Main Regulator of the Intestinal Skin Axis, Front Microbiol. 2018; 9: 1459 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6048199/

Moestrup KS et al., Dietary control of skin lipids and microbiome, J Invest Dermatol. 2018 May; 138 (5): 1225-8. https://www.jidonline.org/article/S0022-202X(17)33290-6/fulltext

Prescott SL et al., Skin Microbiome: The Effect of Modern Media on Skin Ecology, Barrier Integrity, and System Immune Programming, World Allergy Organ J., 2017 Aug 22; 10 (1): 29 https: //www.ncbi.nlm .nih.gov / PMC / articles / PMC5568566 /

Clark AK, et al., Edible plants and their effect on intestinal microbiome and pimples, Int J Mol. Sci. 2017 May; 18 (5): 1070 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5454980/

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