PATIENTS WITH ACNE HAVE REDUCED VITAMIN D LEVELS

Vitamin D in cosmetology: rules of use

Skin conditioning products with vitamin D are recommended for use if the following symptoms occur:

dryness, wilting, flabbiness of the dermis;
development of psoriasis;
slow healing of wounds.

For these symptoms, external use is recommended, as it gives the following effects:

Reduces the risk of overdose. External skin care with creams and ointments containing vitamin D ensures uniform nutrition of all cells without affecting the condition of internal organs.
External care quickly improves the external condition of the epidermis.

Vitamin D preparations are prescribed to prevent facial skin, treat psoriasis and get rid of acne. Detailed instructions for use are included in the package.

Attention! Preparations with calciferol cannot be used with phototherapy, keratolytics, salicylic acid, vegetable oils, glycerin and lanolin.

Special recommendations for the use of creams and ointments:

First you should do a test. The most common way is to apply the cream to the elbow and observe the body’s reaction throughout the day.
Vitamin D ointment for psoriasis should be applied only to the affected areas. Residues should be removed with a cloth.
After using care products with calciferol, you should refrain from water treatments for one hour.

Why is deficiency dangerous?

“Very often in winter and spring, patients come to a neurologist with muscle pain or incomprehensible fatigue,” confirms Varvara Khaletskaya, a neurologist at the Fantasy Children’s Clinic. — Upon examination, it turns out that the level of vitamin D is low. Although in the summer such patients sometimes come for appointments, so not everyone has this to do with the length of daylight hours.”

According to Olga Shamrina, over the past 8 years of practice, she has only twice received patients without vitamin D deficiency at all, and both times they were not Russians. In southerners, prolonged exposure to the sun causes tanning, in which the body slows down the synthesis of D3 to avoid overdose. Also, with age, the sensitivity of the receptors in the skin responsible for the absorption of vitamin D in the light decreases.

Vitamin D deficiency is critically dangerous in young children. This is the main reason for the development of rickets. Also, in case of deficiency, there is a high risk of developing respiratory infections, asthma, autoimmune diseases or developing insulin resistance. But this problem has now been reliably solved.

“For many years I have not seen children with rickets due to vitamin D deficiency,” says Vladimir Yagodkin, a pediatrician at the Fantasy clinic. — A sign that a child does not have enough vitamin D may be a fontanel that does not heal for a long time or a lack of hair on the back of the head. Nowadays, all babies starting from the age of one month are required to be given preventive doses of the vitamin in the form of oil drops. If there are any children left with a deficiency, it is perhaps in the remote wilderness or in third world countries. I myself take vitamin D for preventive purposes and advise all adults I know to do so.”

Olga Shamrina says that in the USA and Great Britain, most endocrinologists and general practitioners do not accept patients complaining of general poor health without testing for vitamin D. It is its results that are most important if the patient experiences fatigue, decreased muscle tone, weather sensitivity or increased stress load. The analysis itself is quite expensive and is not included in the regulations for the provision of free medical care.

“The analysis is needed so that the doctor can prescribe the correct form and individual dosage of external vitamin D,” adds Dr. Shamrina. — It depends on the function of the parathyroid gland, age, excess weight. After all, vitamin D can accumulate in adipose tissue and not work, so obese people require a larger dosage. In those suffering from gastritis or gastroduodenitis, the vitamin may not be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. One of my 78-year-old patients with abnormal parathyroid hormone function received vitamin D in fat-soluble form for a long time without any benefit. After replacing it with a water-soluble form, which is metabolized by the kidneys, my health immediately improved.”

Instructions for choosing vitamin D products

There are many creams with calciferol. This complicates the process of choosing the right product. Therefore, we recommend taking into account the release forms and compositions.

Selection of release form

Vitamin D preparations are available in several forms:

cream;
lotion;
emulsion;
serum.

Cream is the best form. It nourishes the skin well and gives a quick effect.

Compound

Calciferol is used in cosmetics in the form of liposomes. The active substance may also be represented by the compound 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-dehydrocholesterol).

Proof that the product contains the optimal dosage of calciferol is its presence first on the list.

Duration of use and packaging volume

The course of application of creams/ointments is 1 month. The duration of use in the treatment of psoriasis, etc. should be discussed with your doctor.

For facial skin care, a 50 ml package is enough, for the body – 100-125 ml.

Who is prescribed

Taking vitamin D during pregnancy is recommended only in special cases; usually, a balanced diet is enough. It is usually prescribed to older people, often women, as a therapy for osteoporosis, or more precisely, for the prevention of osteoporotic fractures.

However, a meta-analysis of studies of this practice in nursing homes showed that many years of eating tablets with calcium and vitamin D does not prevent fractures, but on the contrary, it increases the incidence of heart attacks. Patients with osteoporosis rather lack elastic cartilage tissue on which calcium can settle and accumulate. When cartilage is worn away, this microelement only strengthens the bones, which become not only hard, but also fragile.

“Until the end of the twentieth century, vitamin D was used only in the treatment of rickets and osteoporosis,” recalls Vasily Vlasov. — Partly because we don’t know how to effectively treat osteoporosis with anything. Observations have proven that the number of fractures in older people does not decrease. If there is no real, vital need for vitamin D, no amount of it will improve your health. This situation is similar to the widespread use of multivitamins that has become fashionable. They are taken not for medical reasons, but for prevention, often without the participation of a doctor. Dosages, as in the case of vitamin D, are much lower than therapeutic ones. And the positive effect has also not been proven. But the market share is estimated in billions of dollars.”

Many developed countries solve the problem of vitamin D deficiency by enriching mass-market food products with it: milk, yoghurts and even wheat flour. In the USA and Canada, this began to be practiced back in the 1950s, and for a long time this requirement for manufacturers was in the nature of a legislative requirement. Similar programs are popular in Western European countries. In the UK, for example, it is predicted that adding 100 mcg of the vitamin (4000 IU) to 1 kg of flour will reduce the proportion of people with insufficient vitamin D intake from 93% to 50% over a short period of time.

TOP 5 products with vitamin D

We offer to buy drugs on the iHerb website. The store is famous for its low prices and products from trusted manufacturers. iHerb offers TOP 5 skin care products. The products are sorted by the number of positive reviews.

MRM, MSM Cream, 113 g

★★★★★

637 rub.

More details

The cost of 1 ounce is 129 rubles. 90 kopecks

General characteristics:

country of origin – USA;
packaging volume – 113 g.

Cream with retinol and calciferol. Contains MSM (a source of sulfur). The product is designed to support skin health.

Pros:

the cream has an unobtrusive smell;
absorbs quickly;
has a mattifying effect.

Minuses:

some buyers did not receive a positive result.

Now Foods, Vitamin D-3 Cream, 4 fl oz (118 ml)

★★★★★

566 rub.

More details

The cost of 1 ounce is 105 rubles.

General information:

Country: USA;
volume – 118 ml.

The product contains vitamins D (1000 IU), A (500 IU) and C (50 IU). The drug returns the skin to a healthy, well-groomed appearance.

Pros:

the cream intensively nourishes, moisturizes, tightens the dermis;
normalizes water-lipid balance;
removes peeling.

Minuses:

Source Naturals, MSM Cream, 4 oz (113.4 g)

★★★★★

829 rub.

More details

The cost of 1 ounce is 193 rubles. 34 kopecks

A brief description of:

country of origin – USA;
packaging volume – 113.4 g.

The cream contains organic sulfur extract, therefore it has a beneficial effect on all skin cells. The composition additionally includes tocopherol.

Pros:

the product maintains the health and beauty of the dermis, prolongs its youth.

Minuses:

thick texture.

CeraVe, SA lotion for rough and uneven skin, 8 fl. oz. (237 ml)

★★★★★

RUB 1,613

More details

The cost of 1 ounce is 148 rubles.

Characteristic:

country – France;
volume – 237 ml.

The composition includes ceramides, calciferol and salicylic acid. The product does not contain fragrances or harmful substances.

Pros:

lotion moisturizes;
eliminates roughness;
easy to apply.

Minuses:

Nature's Plus, Vitamin E Cream, 30,000 IU, 2.2 oz (63 g)

★★★★★

1,100 rub.

More details

The cost of 1 ounce is 421 rubles.

General characteristics:

country of origin – USA;
packaging volume - 63 g.

The composition includes vitamins A, E, D. The product maintains the health and beauty of the skin.

Pros:

the cream has a rich composition.

Minuses:

Criticism

The wave of publications about the healing properties of vitamin D in medical, semi-medical, and completely non-medical publications began about 30 years ago and shows no sign of abating. If you type “vitamin D” next to the name of any disease in an Internet search engine, you will find many articles about positive effects in treatment or the impact of vitamin D deficiency on the course of the disease. Here, for example, is a study showing that a lack of vitamin D can lead to a more severe course of coronavirus infection. But some experts do not agree with the absolute benefits of taking it.

“All statements about the direct effect of vitamin D on immunity, insulin and general well-being have nothing to do with evidence-based medicine,” says Vasily Vlasov, vice-president of the Society of Evidence-Based Medicine Specialists, Doctor of Medical Sciences. — There are no convincing, reproducible studies regarding the healing properties of calciferols in the prevention, much less treatment, of real diseases. Over the past two to three decades, there have been hundreds of articles about the successful use of vitamin D in the treatment of a variety of diseases: from baldness and impotence to strokes and hypertension. All of them have not been verified by subsequent clinical trials. Therefore, when similar articles now appear annually, the attitude towards them is quite skeptical.”

Severe vitamin D deficiency is often observed in a variety of diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. But doctors look at restoring normal levels differently.

“The importance of vitamin D for the body is just a fashionable topic,” says Alexander Lavrishchev, a therapist at the Semeynaya clinic. Several years ago, vitamin E was fashionable among hepatologists, after a series of publications on this topic. If a doctor wanted to look progressive, he had to try large doses of vitamin E on the patient. 90% of the Russian population lives with vitamin D deficiency. It is easy and inexpensive to synthesize, and if there is a huge market, then there is a big business. As a medicine, vitamin D is unlikely to be effective: I know of no cases in which a patient with an unclear illness would recover only by replenishing the deficiency of this substance.”

Olga Shamrina, who has repeatedly seen exhausted patients with a noticeable vitamin D deficiency, who had previously seen many doctors who had not found any pathologies, does not entirely agree with her colleague.

“If a person has no complaints, this does not mean that there is no vitamin D deficiency,” says the doctor. - You may never notice him. It’s just that sometimes you will be more tired than usual, have difficulty waking up, and sometimes react more forcefully to changing weather. A married couple who had seen many doctors before came to see me by chance. A 45-year-old woman had been unable to get pregnant for more than 3 years and was planning to do IVF. Vitamin D analysis showed that both spouses had a pronounced deficiency. After a short course of treatment with only vitamin D, everything went well. Now the child is already one and a half years old.”

Homemade face mask

Products containing calciferol can also be prepared at home. One of them is a mask that uses the following ingredients:

chopped fresh parsley (100 g);
vitamin D (1 capsule);
a little sour cream.

Principle of preparation and use

Mix parsley with 1 capsule, sour cream, apply a thin layer to cleansed facial skin. Leave for 10-15 minutes and rinse with water.

Course – 1-2 months. Frequency – 1-2 times a week.

When the skin needs vitaminized care

A tendency to frequent inflammation, decreased elasticity and the appearance of premature wrinkles, dryness, flaking are just some of the problems for which cosmetologists recommend using vitamin face masks.

Photo: Xvatit.com

Young skin also requires special care. Especially if it is excessively dry, constantly peeling, or, conversely, too oily.

Self-prepared masks using fruits, vegetables or with the addition of pharmacy vitamins give noticeable results after the first procedures. The face becomes fresh, acquires a beautiful shade, becomes soft and velvety. A course of procedures activates metabolic processes, stimulates collagen synthesis, which leads to rejuvenation.