Zinc and Psoriasis
My mother has suffered from plaque psoriasis (dry, red or silvery-white scaly lesions on the skin) on her knees and elbows for years. She was recently hospitalized for an unrelated injury, and during her time at the hospital was given a zinc-based soothing skin cream. The cream was not marketed specifically as a psoriasis or dry skin treatment, but within a week it had worked wonders in reducing the dryness and itchiness, resulting in a clearly visible improvement in her skin condition.
Other “zinc for skin” treatments have been around for years, but many of these were discredited following a scandal in which some manufacturers actually included steroids in their over-the-counter formulations, bringing down the wrath of the FDA. Skin zinc products do continue to sell, but as many have basically been labeled snake oil treatments, there is plenty of skepticism. I was one of those skeptics myself until I saw this cream in action. My mom has tried dozens of mainstream treatments without luck, but the change this product brought on was fairly dramatic - it was certainly no placebo.
I did some research on the product and found a few notable differences between the ingredients used by this product and some others that are specifically marketed to psoriasis sufferers. For one thing, many of the typical products include an exfoliant, such as salicylic acid, which burns away the top layer of dead skin cells. The product my mother used included no strong exfoliants. The other big difference was the type of zinc used. Traditional “zinc for skin” products specifically use zinc pyrithione, while this product used zinc oxide.
Both zinc pyrithione and zinc oxide share the common benefits of zinc, such as its antioxidant and anti-fungal properties. However, while zinc pyrithione has long been a common ingredient in moisturizers and dandruff shampoos, zinc oxide has mainly been used in sun protection creams due to its properties of blocking UVA and UVB solar rays. Zinc oxide usually has the downside of leaving a white film on the skin due to its larger particles, but there are formulations available now which use new manufacturing processes to reduce the particle size, making the cream unnoticeable after being applied. The cream I observed did leave a white film and was fairly thick. It was not quickly absorbed by the skin, but it certainly was powerful.
There are no dangerous side effects reported from topical zinc applications, so if you or someone you know is suffering from a dry skin condition such as psoriasis, a zinc oxide topical cream may be worth looking into. There are a number of clinical tests out there as well, and while I could find no long-term double-blind studies, the evidence seems pretty clear that these products can be of help in many cases. The cream that the hospital provided used a 30% zinc oxide concentration, so I’d recommend finding something with a similar strength for best results.
