Can Sudocrem improve your spots and acne?

For more than 80 years Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream has been mum’s ally in the soothing of sore skin and treating nappy rashes, but is it any good for spots?

More and more people use this cream on their face to treat spots and acne, even the tub says it treats acne, but in reality is it any good for the skin?

We’re taking the advice of Caroline Hirons, whose skincare and beauty blog has become our lifeline in helping with skin dilemmas we often face, and she has yet to steer us wrong when it comes to skincare.

Here’s what she says:

“A one-off spot may have its redness taken down - temporarily - by applying toothpaste or nappy cream. If acne could be fixed by Oral-B or Sudocrem all of our problems would be solved. YAY! *jazz hands*

“Dude. Stop putting toothpaste and bum cream on your face.”

Zinc oxide, one of the ingredients in Sudocrem, will help reduce the redness of the spot, but the antiseptic properties of the cream aren't strong enough to get rid of the spot itself.

How can you reduce spots get rid of them instead?

Jessica Cannell, Training Manager at DestinationSkin says: ‘There is not a “one size fits all” solution to acne, everyone’s skin is different and should be treated as such especially when dealing with this skin condition. Generally speaking, most acne reacts well to treatments that contain active ingredients such as Salicylic Acid to deeply cleanse the congested pores, control excess oil production, and soothe bacterial inflammation. The mistake that many people make is to overwash and cleanse acne-prone skin. This worsens the skin condition, prompting the skin to overproduce natural oils to compensate for those lost during the cleansing process.

“A skin specialist is the best person to speak to if you are concerned about the condition of your skin.”

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream review

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream is a ‘grown-up’ version of the classic Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream and uses the same key ingredients in different proportions.

This cream is really gentle, so you can use it as and when you need it, plus the handy sized tube means it’s perfect for travelling and carrying around in your handbag to use as and when you need it.

The cream itself is quite thick, but just warm it up in your fingers to help smooth across your face. We prefer to use it in the evening, as it’s quite rich to be used in the day, but it might be ok for really dry skin types during the day.

Lara Stone, Cheryl Cole and recently Perrie Edwards have highlighted that the cream makes their skin feel much improved. They have used it as a face mask in the past.

How to get healthy, spot-free skin

While this isn’t a definitive list, these things might help with the reduction of spots on your skin

• Keep it clean – cleanse properly with good skincare.
• Eat well. Read this piece on Foods to eat for better skin. Using the five-a-day guideline is a good way to ensure enough of the right foods are eaten.
• You want plenty of Vitamin A (grapefruit, tomatoes, mango, guava, cantaloupes, broccoli, butternut, carrots, spinach, chestnuts, pecans, pistachios) and Zinc (avocado, raspberries, blackberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, oats cashews, asparagus, corn, peas). These are known to help pimples heal.
• Also, stock up on food rich in Zinc and Selenium (dates, banana, guava, lychee, mango, asparagus, mushrooms, peas, barley, cashews, coconut, rye) as deficiencies in these minerals has been linked to acne.
• Take omega oils – either in fish or flax form.
• Increase intake of Vitamin D (an essential vitamin for healthy skin) Read this guide: Everything you need to know about Vitamin D
• Don’t neglect acids, nice acids like Salicylic, Lactic, Glycolic - all brilliant for helping your skin.

Things to avoid when you want healthy, clear skin

• Eating too much sugar – it really doesn’t help your skin in anyway shape or form.
• Lay off dairy – dairy these days contains androgen hormones which raise your testosterone levels and makes skin oilier and more prone to problems.
• Drinking too much alcohol, it’s loaded with sugar and it also raises your body temperature and thus raises inflammation. And it massively dehydrates you, which makes your skin look drained and dull.
• Smoke – there’s not much explanation needed for this one, is there?

Sudocrem

Sudocrem was first created in 1931, then it was Smith's Cream after the developer Thomas Smith, it was renamed years later.

Sudocrem is mainly used for the treatment of nappy rash in babies, but there are many other uses of the cream. It can be used to treat grazes, minor burns and bed sores. They also recommend that you can use it on eczema, dermatitis and pressure sores.

The cream has four main ingredients, all of which are there to help benefit the skin. They are:

Anhydrous hypoallergenic lanolin: Designed to help soften and soothe the skin.

Zinc oxide: This keeps the skin moisturised by reducing tissue fluid loss.

Benzyl alcohol: This ingredient is included in Sudocrem as it has antiseptic properties. It can also help reduce the pain associated with some of the ailments the cream is designed to treat.

Benzyl benzoate and benzyl cinnamate: This is said to have strong healing properties.

What Sudocrem can treat and heal

Eczema

The Antiseptic Healing Cream can be used to calm, soothe and heal eczema, providing light relief for the discomfor it causes. Sudocrem helps reduce tissue fluid loss, which keeps the skin nourished, so the cracked and sore skin that's usually associated with eczema is somewhat relieved.

Treating nappy rash

Most probably the reason why most people buy Sudocrem, it's typically a must-have for newborns as it's great at treating and relieving the systems associated with nappy rash. It helps treat nappy rash by working in three ways, soothing the inflamed skin, healing it and easing the pain.

Cuts, grazes and minor burns

Use Sudocrem on cuts, grazes and minor burns as it can soothe any discomfort and pain you might be experiencing, as well as lessen the risk of infection in the ailment too.