Is Salicylic Acid Effective at Treating Acne?

Salicylic Acid gets rid of the proteins in skin cells.  This is why you see this ingredient in common acne treatments such as soaps and spot creams, as well as corn and callous removers.  In acne treatments, it tries to get rid of the debris that form pimples but it takes a long time for it to work – about 90 days for the debris to be removed.  90 days is a long time to wait for clear skin.  Most of us want results right away.

If you have problem acne or very large comedones, it’s not worth your time or money on products that contain salicylic acid for existing acne.    However, if you want to help future breakouts by keeping the skin follicles clean and helping to prevent further breakouts, you may want to consider using it – but you’ll have to use it everyday.

So, it’s best to only use this ingredient if and only if you have very mild acne.

There is one big benefit to using salicylic acid: it is an anti-inflammatory agent and it can help with redness of pimples.

Did you know that over the counter acne treatments that contain salicylic acid are usually referred to as a beta hydroxy acids?  This isn’t quite true, though.  It’s really an “aromatic compound”.  So, don’t be fooled.

It’s very difficult to find a good salicylic acid product that works for you and won’t irritate your skin.  Because this ingredient will not dissolve in water, many will contain a lot of alcohol which will make acne-prone skin worse.

For acne treatments to be effective, it should have 2% salicylic acid with a pH of 3-3.5
But, try finding a product that lists both the % of salicylic acid and the pH.  It won’t be easy.


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