Why does washing your face with sulfur soap make acne worse? Can sulfur soap really remove acne?

Washing your face with sulfur soap can kill bacteria, fungi, mold, mites, parasites, etc. At the same time, it has certain preventive and auxiliary therapeutic effects on some skin diseases. But why does washing your face with sulfur soap make acne worse?

Why does washing your face with sulfur soap make acne worse?

Sulfur soap is highly alkaline and irritating to the skin. Washing your face with it will cause dryness, tightness, and peeling of the skin. It will also make the skin's stratum corneum thinner and the skin more sensitive, leading to acne after washing your face. In addition, acne symptoms may also be caused by sulfur soap inhibiting the secretion of sebaceous glands in the skin.

Does sulfur soap really help with acne?

Theoretically, yes. Sulfur soap has the functions of inhibiting sebum secretion, killing bacteria, fungi, molds, mites, parasites, etc. It also has certain preventive and auxiliary therapeutic effects on some skin diseases. For some oily acne-prone skin, occasionally using sulfur soap is still helpful in removing facial oil.

But don't think that you can use sulfur soap alone to wash away all the pimples on your face. This is unrealistic. The acne-removing effect is different from the acne-removing effect you think. Removing a few small pimples is also acne-removing, but don't think that it can remove a face full of pustules. Sulfur itself is irritating and belongs to the alkaline soap class. It is not recommended to use it if the acne is not particularly severe.

Sulfur soap is an alkaline substance with a pH value of around 8. The pH value of the sebum film, the protective layer of the skin, is only 5.5. If you wash your face with sulfur soap, it will definitely remove the oil on the surface of the skin, but it will not be able to clean the deep oil and will not solve the problem of acne fundamentally. If used for a long time, it may cause enlarged pores. In addition, long-term use of sulfur soap will over-clean and exfoliate the sebum and stratum corneum on the skin surface, making the skin dry, peeling and even sensitive, and causing red blood streaks.

It should also be noted that sulfur soap is more suitable for oily skin and should not be used on dry or sensitive skin. The biggest feeling of using sulfur soap is that the face feels dry and tight, which is a common feature of all soap-based products, so it is important to replenish water and moisturize the face in time. In addition, acne inflammation also needs to be treated with anti-inflammatory treatment in time, but sulfur soap has no anti-inflammatory effect, so don’t simply think that a piece of sulfur soap can really get rid of your acne.

Of course, although sulfur soap is not suitable for washing your face, it is still very helpful for some acne on the body. Because the skin on the body has fewer sebaceous glands than the face, taking a bath with sulfur soap will not cause much irritation to the body. If you feel dry after use, you can use body lotion to moisturize and take care of the acne-prone skin.