Dr. Maureen Allem, I would like to know: Seeing benzoyl peroxide peels the skin, can one use products with this ingredient to help a normal skin that regenerates at a low rate because of an under-active thyroid?
Dr Maureen Allem from Skin, Body & Health Renewal responds: “What a great question! Thank you for this. The point or indication for using benzoyl peroxide is generally when the skin is congested or oily, because one of its functions is to help dry areas where there is excessive oil content. For a skin that is already dry, this would be an unwise ingredient to use, as you would simply further dehydrate and unbalance your skin’s barrier and could in fact cause adverse reactions. In a case where you have a dry skin that needs an increased cell turn over or deeper exfoliation, you want to use products that will “peel” the epidermis (superficial layers), while protecting or even hydrating the dermis (deeper layers). So for a dry skin, the better choice of ingredients would include alpha hydroxyl acids or poly hydroxyl acids.”
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One Response
Good question. I didn’t know the effect this would have on dry skin.