Benzoyl Peroxide – Precautions

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Avoid abrasive, harsh, or drying soaps and cleansers while using benzoyl peroxide topical.

Avoid contact with clothing and hair. Benzoyl peroxide topical may cause bleaching.
Avoid combining sunscreen containing PABA and benzoyl peroxide.
Temporary skin discoloration may occur if they are used together.



Do not use benzoyl peroxide topical on sunburned, windburned, dry, chapped, or irritated skin. It could make these conditions worse. Also avoid using benzoyl peroxide topical on wounds or on areas of eczema. Wait until these conditions have healed before using this medication.



Do not use benzoyl peroxide topical during treatment with tretinoin (Altinac, Avita, Renova, Retin-A). The combination could lead to severe skin irritation.



Benzoyl peroxide topical is the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether benzoyl peroxide topical will be harmful to an unborn baby. Do not use this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment.


Avoid using other topical products on the same area at the same time unless directed to do so by your doctor. They may interfere with the effects or absorption of benzoyl peroxide topical.



Do not cover the area after applying benzoyl peroxide topical, unless otherwise directed by your doctor. Doing so could cause too much medicine to be absorbed by the body and could be harmful. Do not cover the area after applying benzoyl peroxide topical, unless otherwise directed by your doctor. Doing so could cause too much medicine to be absorbed by the body and could be harmful.
It is not known whether benzoyl peroxide passes into breast milk. Do not use benzoyl peroxide topical without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

What precautions should be taken using Benzoyl Peroxide?

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As far as I know, Benzoyl Peroxide is considered to be skin-safe if is used in concentrations less of about 15 – 20%, regardless to the remedy’s form – cream, gel solutions, etc. anyway, being skin-safe, doesn’t mean that some precautions shouldn’t be taken. In this article I’ll try to cover some major precautions every Benzoyl Peroxide user must know:

1. First of all, do not let your Benzoyl Peroxide product in some places accessible to reach of children. It’s easy to imagine what can happen in case a child opens a tube with Benzoyl Peroxide and starts playing with all that are inside, or, worse, tries it at tastes and inhales it. So, be careful where you keep your medicines, not just Benzoyl Peroxide product.
2. Avoid contact of the product with eyes, nasal mucosa, with the medium and intern ear and, also, do not try to taste it or add in some food accidentally. It may seem ridiculous, but being in constant contact with medical personal, as I’m a student in medicine, I hear a lot of stories, some of them dramatic and ridiculous at the same time. So be careful, again. This is not the most toxic product ever sold, but some precautions will save you from unpleasant events.
3. Don’t use it other way than externally, on skin. It is only for external use and do not try to apply some Benzoyl Peroxide products internally.
4. Avoid Benzoyl Peroxide to contact with your colored clothes. It bleaches them. Tested on my own – my favorite shirt gained some white spots on it after I dropped some Benzoyl Peroxide cream on it. I don’t have any information on bleaching effect on hair, but I don’t recommend you to test this. :)
   
5. When applied on skin, avoid using some other products, till it is totally absorbed by the skin. You can let it some other 20 minutes to completely dry out (if we talk about a cream). Avoid make-up on the area you just applied Benzoyl Peroxide at least for some half an hour after usage. Let your skin accommodate first with Benzoyl Peroxide.

What concentration of Benzoyl Peroxide should I choose?

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You already know that Benzoyl Peroxide comes in different concentrations, regardless to its form – gel, solution or cream. Basically, as far I as I understood from some other blogs and forums, Benzoyl Peroxide may be produced in the following concentrations:
Benzoyl Peroxide – 2,5%
Benzoyl Peroxide – 4$
Benzoyl Peroxide – 8% (more common in USA)
Benzoyl Peroxide – 10%
If you are seeking for medical help in treating acne, and you find a doctor who wants to prescribe you some Benzoyl Peroxide based products, then he’ll choose one of those concentrations I provided, depending on your skin condition.
At a 2,5% concentration, Benzoyl Peroxide is known to be effective in easy and mild form of acne, with some spots on your skin. I suppose it’s more for casual usage, when you need to treat some light for of acne.
At a 4% concentration, Benzoyl Peroxide is optimal for an oily skin, with acne affecting your front, nose or shoulders. In this concentration it has a evident drying effect, so pay attention at the dose you are about to use and contact your doctor in case something gets wrong and you feel discomfort, hard itching, redness.
In concentration of 8 to 10%, Benzoyl Peroxide becomes a very powerful remedy, yet very active. Keep in mind it is not recommended to overdose your Benzoyl Peroxide-based cream because there is the possibility of some adverse reactions to appear.
Also I would like to touch a subject that I plan to develop further in this blog - Benzoyl Peroxide’s Precautions: Benzoyl Peroxide in a 100% concentration, applied on skin, becomes extremely toxic and is a substance considered to induce skin cancer and malign structures. I repeat – only in 100% concentration. Not in 2,5 or 10% as we use in treating acne. Those doses (from 2,5 up to 10%) are considered to be skin-safe and actually are the most cost-effective acne treatment