Does putting toothpaste on pimples help? This folk remedy for combating pimples and acne has been going around for some time. The rumor is to leave the paste (not gel formulation toothpaste) over the pimple overnight and you wake up to a pimple that is dried out or reduced swelling.
True, there are some ingredients in toothpastes that may help dry out the oil in pimples such as menthol, sulfur and alcohol but just putting any old toothpaste will not solve the problem. In fact, it might even aggravate it.
Research from skin doctors have found that the type of toothpaste you use can cause allergy-like symptoms such as whiteheads and acne around the mouth area spanning around the corners of the mouth and chin.
This is especially so if you are using fluoride toothpaste with whitening properties, flavouring agents and other unknown additives. A doctor found that 50% of his patients that switched from fluoride toothpaste to baking soda and an anti-bacteria mouthwash reduced in acne-like eruptions have significant improvement and almost total clearing of their acne around the mouth region.
When his patients resumed their normal fluoridated toothpaste, their acne symptoms returned.
So can putting toothpaste on pimples cure all your pimple woes? It maybe best to switch to a natural or organic toothpaste for dental and dermatological health and stick to over the counter acne treatments like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, tea tree oil and sulfur and clay facial masks to calm and deflate painful facial inflammations like acne and pimples.
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