Probiotics for Acne: Do They Help?

85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24 experience acne, but acne does not always vanish after the age of 24. There are many ways to help combat it, including the use of probiotics for acne treatment.

If you suffer from chronic acne, you already know how frustrating it can be to deal with those all-too-common breakouts as they happen. You’ve probably also struggled to find a solution that really works. This is especially true if you suffer from adult acne or cystic acne, both of which are more severe than your standard, run-of-the-mill zit.

The right washing regimen can sometimes help. So can prescription products like Accutane. But they aren’t without side effects, and they aren’t necessarily right for every patient, either. Some patients even find that what works one week slowly stops working over time> This then forces them to find a new fix.

Over the last few years, research has highlighted a relatively safe third option for treating it: probiotics for acne relief. It turns out these tiny little “good bacteria” might be just as beneficial for your skin as they are for your gut.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Role of Bacteria in the Human Body

The human body is filled with millions of tiny bacteria at any given time. These colonies exist in a delicate balance referred to as the microbiota.

Nearly all of the bacteria colonizing your body plays either an essential or tertiary role in the everyday body processes that support life. Bacteria in the gut, for example, is responsible for helping you digest food. Bacteria within the vaginal canal have the desired effect of keeping yeast colonies in check, preventing infection.

Sometimes, the microbiota becomes imbalanced. This may be a result of dietary changes, illness, or even certain medications, such as proton pump inhibitors. Bad bacteria overcolonize, while good bacteria levels begin to drop.

This is called dysbiosis, and it’s the reason researchers believe probiotics might be helpful for patients with certain forms of acne.

How Does Dysbiosis Affect Skin?

Mild dysbiosis usually only causes symptoms in the gut – you might begin to experience diarrhea, nausea, or stomach pain. But over time, those effects begin to affect nearly every part of your body, including your immune system and skin.

Exactly how or why this occurs is an ongoing source of investigation. We do know, for example, that taking antibiotics can interfere with bacteria balance in the gut. We also know that nutrition is extremely important for maintaining a healthy microbiota.

Researchers have also been able to prove that the gut and skin are deeply connected in multiple ways. Specifically, the gut communicates directly with both the skin and your immune system. It helps both elements understand when to attack, heal, repair, regenerate, and even adjust oil production. If the gut microbiome is unbalanced, all of these functions can begin to suffer as a result.

This is probably a two-fold effect.

• An impaired microbiome prevents you from absorbing nutrients efficiently; this forces your whole body to work at a constant deficit.
• But an imbalanced microbiota also interrupts the gut’s ability to communicate with your skin. This might mean your immune system doesn’t detect or attack harmful bacteria – and that could result in breakouts or skin infections.

What Exactly Are Probiotics?

Probiotics are substances that encourage and support the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. This effect may be direct, such as when you eat yogurt, which contains live bacteria cultures, or indirect, such as when you take a supplement containing an ingredient that feeds the bacteria already present in your intestines.

In either case, one thing is always true: probiotics help to support healthy bacteria which has the desired side effect of keeping bad bacteria in check.

Some of the foods we eat contain natural probiotics that are beneficial for the gut, and thus, the skin. But special supplements from a lab may also be helpful in patients who seem to struggle with an impaired microbiota continuously over time.

Do Probiotics Really Help?

Although it might seem surprising, science does support the role of using probiotics for acne. This systematic review from 2015, for example, shows that certain probiotics – many of which are found in yogurt – seem to help inhibit P. acnes. This is the number one bacteria associated with chronic acne breakouts at every age.

The same study also shows that taking a specific probiotic (Lactococcus) inhibited more harmful skin bacteria. This bacteria includes Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes. These are not only associated with acne, but can also lead to severe skin infections in sensitive or immunocompromised patients.

Additional Research

Another older study from 2007 confirmed an 89 percent reduction in acne papules in patients who applied a combination of probiotics and ceramide sphingolipids to the skin. However, it wasn’t completely clear which element of this approach was responsible for the beneficial effect.

Yet another research project looked at the effects of applying a substance extracted from the probiotic Streptococcus thermophilus to the skin. Results were extremely promising; study leaders concluded that the cream produced a “significant and relevant increase” in ceramides (specific skin oils) that helped inhibit acne.

But the most evidence we have for probiotics in treating acne isn’t direct – it’s due to the way healthy bacteria supports digestion instead. Dr. Whitney Bowe, who wrote a book on the subject titled, “The Beauty of Dirty Skin,” explained this process in very simple terms during a 2018 interview with Fox News.

“They assist with digestion and the absorption of nutrients: you can’t nourish yourself effectively without them.”

So what does this mean, in layman’s terms? Essentially, there is plenty of evidence to support that it can be useful to utilize probiotics for acne treatment. You just need to find which probiotic helps you restore microbiome balance.

How to Use Probiotics for Acne

With all of this evidence supporting the use of probiotics in fighting acne, should you start using them at home? Maybe – but you should speak with your pharmacist before you start. Some people may be sensitive to probiotics, and it’s important to take the right live cultures and substances if you want to specifically target your skin. Your pharmacist can also help you with creating a customized compounded skin care routine to fit all of your needs.

You can also try adjusting your diet at home. Yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, and kombucha all contain live cultures shown to benefit the gut and skin. You should also avoid anything that has the potential to destroy the gut’s microbiota, including alcohol and heavily processed foods.

If your acne is severe, it might be better to speak with a dermatologist before you start making any changes. There are cosmeceutical probiotics available in the form of topicals that may be even more effective than diet changes alone. These are often available from your local compounding pharmacy, but some may require a prescription.