Hey you guys. I wanted to show you the supps that I take each day. I’ve read enough evidence to come to the conclusion that supplementing with fish oil and zinc is prudent. I also supplement with some other stuff, which I thought I’d share. Here’s a list of what I take each day:

Fish oil: Three 1000mg pills. Fish oil is a potent anti-inflammatory. Acne is an inflammatory disease. Plus, fish oil is great for heart health and a bevy of other diseases. No-brainer. I take Country Life brand because they don’t give me any fish burps.

Zinc: There is probably more evidence backing up zinc for controlling acne than any other supplement. Study after study show about 40% reduction in acne lesions. Keep in mind that placebo is 30%, so zinc outpaces placebo, albeit not to an astonishing degree. I take one 30-50mg pill per day, depending on what’s on sale. Zinc becomes toxic at levels above 100mg/day.

Multi-vitamin: Just to cover my bases I take a name brand multi-vitamin. I prefer a large name brand because I figure they’ve got more to lose if they are found negligent in some way, such as not putting the required amount of vitamins in there. From what I’ve read, we don’t know if a multi-vitamin is definitely beneficial, and multi-vitamins do not contain polyphenols, the life-giving chemicals in plants. But taking a multi makes me feel better just in case.

Borage oil/evening primrose oil: Borage oil, or evening primrose oil both contain GLA (gamma linoleic acid). Their anti-inflammatory activity and efficacy are controversial and still up for debate. So why do I take it? Because I saw a naturopath a few years ago and she told me to, so I take them on occasion. Yeah, not a good reason. I’ll probably stop taking them soon But for full disclosure, I thought I’d let you know I take them. If you have recent evidence of their efficacy or non-efficacy please let me know.

Vitamin D3: I take one 1000mg vitamin D3 pill per day. I don’t eat vitamin D fortified dairy much at all, and my sun exposure is limited, so I make sure to take a D3 pill each day.

That’s it. It’s a handful as you can see, but I’ve become adept at gulping them all down in one swig. Have I noticed effects from them? Honestly, not really. But it feels good to take them just for bodily insurance. Hopefully evidence will mount regarding all of the above mentioned supplements so we have a better idea of which are truly beneficial.

One of my other summer research projects has been to look into B5 for y’all. I got excited reading the initial hypothesis from Dr. Leung, but the more I read on, the more I realized there is no evidence to back anything up. I can’t be more skeptical at this point.

1. Prevention is key! Scar treatment is hardcore–bleeding, oozing, bruizing, pain, long recovery time, permanent change in pigmentation at times, and major expense. It is far easier to prevent acne than it is to attend to scars. I happen to not be prone to scarring, but if I were, I would be diligent on the regimen and I would also be serious about creating anti-inflammatory action in my body. I’d be all about fish oil, zinc, eating well, exercising, and if I was healing from a pretty hardcore zit, I’d take an advil or two during recovery to prevent over-inflammation in my body and the scar response (this is only theorized and not proven to work, but I’d try it). I’d also refuse to pick at my skin, knowing that picking can cause as much scarring as the acne itself.

2. Scar revision is more of an art than a science. I’ve researched 19 different procedures so far. These 19 different procedures often need to be combined for best results. If I were looking for a doctor to take care of my scarring, I would look specifically for a plastic surgeon who specializes in acne scarring. Furthermore, I would not just take their word for it. Lots of people seem to “specialize” in whatever you’re paying $4000 for. Rather, I’d feel more comfortable if they themselves had scar revision treatment performed and if this is what got them into plastic surgery to begin with. I’d also make sure they had lots of before and after pictures for me to look at of their own previous clients. To give you an idea of what I mean regarding combination of treatments, if you have some ice pick scars, some narrow and some wide boxcar scars, and several rolling scars here and there, your treatment might consist of one or two punch excisions, one or two punch elevations, a bunch of subcisions, and perhaps some 75% TCA applied directly to a few scars. Then, 6 weeks would pass and you might get CO2 laser revision, followed by Er:YAG, or alternately, 5 medium depth TCA peels, with a little needling should it be required. I think you catch my drift.

I’m angered and motivated from some of the reviews you guys have written about doctors with a laser just sitting you down in the chair with no prep work and just lasering away, taking your $3500 and being done with it, leaving you with less than desirable results. Let’s help educate one another so those of us who need scar revision can be better advocates for themselves and others. I’ll post what I’ve got on the updated scars pages soon.

We only get our vitamin D from the sun and from dairy, so if you’re not getting a lot of sun and you don’t eat much fortified dairy, it’s a good idea to take a vitamin D3 supplement.

I did some research on zinc. When taken internally it acts as an anti-inflammatory which can help with acne symptoms. Just be sure to take it on an empty stomach and not to take more than 100mg a day–50mg is what is normally recommended in what I’m reading.