Does salicylic acid have side effects for acne treatment? What are the symptoms of salicylic acid side effects?

Salicylic acid has the effect of removing acne, but it can also cause acne breakouts. Salicylic acid can be used for acne, but not all acne can be treated with salicylic acid. Some people may also be allergic to salicylic acid.

Too much salicylic acid has side effects. Excessive exfoliation can cause the stratum corneum of the skin to become thinner, which will reduce the skin's defense against the outside world. The skin will become sensitive and prone to itching, stinging, erythema, etc. When using salicylic acid, you should pay attention to strengthening the moisturizing and repairing of the skin, and avoid contact with the eyes when using salicylic acid.

1. Local effect: Excessive removal of the stratum corneum will weaken the skin's defenses, and erythema, itching, stinging or allergies may occur. Therefore, the use of salicylic acid requires enhanced moisturizing and repair, and it is best to avoid contact with the eyes, face, reproductive organs and mucous membranes. A small number of people will have symptoms of allergy to salicylic acid, so it is not suitable to use salicylic acid at any concentration.

2. Systemic symptoms: For general skin care and small-scale users, there should be no systemic side effects. However, for patients who use salicylic acid on a large scale (greater than 30% of the body area) or for a long time, special attention should be paid to the occurrence of salicylic acid poisoning (Salicylism). This includes tinnitus, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and electrolyte imbalance. These symptoms are more likely to occur in children and patients with renal and liver dysfunction. If salicylic acid toxicity occurs, the drug should be discontinued immediately.

Salicylic acid will not cause acne. In medicine, there is no such thing as acne. Salicylic acid unclogs pores and removes old dead skin cells, which will cause the oil in the skin pores to be metabolized and unclogged. People with abnormal pores will have acne, but even if you don't use salicylic acid, these pimples will break out sooner or later because they have already formed in your skin. This is why acne often recurs and cannot be cured. Salicylic acid is fat-soluble, so if you don't moisturize well when you first come into contact with it, you will experience side effects of dryness and peeling, which is normal.

The reason for acne breakouts is that salicylic acid is unclogging the pores and expelling the oil and dirt in the pores. In other words, even if you don't use salicylic acid, these acnes will still break out, it's just a matter of time, because the pores are already blocked and the skin can't excrete normally, the result is acne breakouts, salicylic acid just speeds up this process, it doesn't increase acne.