.. Has anyone ever tried breaking up a zinc tablet.. adding some water.. and putting it on a pimple? I think I'm going to try it.. doubt it will work.. but it's worth a shot eh?

Post if you have tried this before or not.. I'm curious..

I use zinc oxide from my sunscnreen...that's as far as topical zinc goes. It does a decent job at least inhibiting pimples...but to go farther than that, I never (thankfully) needed to.

Hi Marlena...I tried it!!! I tried it!!! ..lol
I made a paste (with water) out of a 50mg.Zinc Gluconate. I applied it all over my face just like the aspirin mask..it tingled and burned slightly...dried my skin ever so slightly and thats about it. I would imagine if you applied it to a zit it would dry it up just like the aspririn mask.

BTW..in my "Readers Digest -Prescription and over the counter Drug Reference book it states: Side effect of topical zinc oxide is Acne, folliculitis(burning, pain, inflammation, and itching in the hairy regions of the skin; pus in hair follicles), and skin rash may occcur with zinc oxide and other physical sunscreens that block pores.

I've read that before, but it's a bit odd bc zinc oxide is FDA approved for topical use as an acne treatment so it'd be a bit odd for it to also CAUSE acne -- and on such subjects I'll take the FDA's judgment over Reader's Digest any day. And, there are conflicting reports as to whether it will clog pores (my view is that it does not). I think this is definitely a YMMV thing.

That sounds like bullshit in my opinion. I've used this sunscreen for half a year and never has it gave me a single pimple. It has helped my light acne too. I don't read RD's...but if you read that from RD's, it's good enough for me never to rely on it for information.

Hey, I tried this (put zinc in a little water and then on face). I only tried it once, but will try again. Zinc has wonderfull anti-inflamitory properties. I also take it internaly. I notice great improvment in my skin when I do, and when I stop for several days, I tend to break out more. Zinc helps speed up the healing of acne.

I've done it lol.. didn't do shit.

What I do is dissolve zinc tablets in ACV, and then mix that with green tea, which I use on my face and hair as well.

Not sure if the zinc is doing anything itself topically, though.

An interesting post. I have been using Zineryt which is a prescription only solution of 30ml containing erythromycin (40 mg/ml) - anti-biotic and zinc acetate (12 mg/ml).

According to the bottle that's 0.36g of Zinc acetate in the 30ml solution.

I have noticed some very encouraging skin healing of old red mark areas (and of course new inflammations) in a matter of days using this solution. This has peaked my interest in the benefits of topical zinc.

I do know that this medicine is particularly effective because of the nature of the combination. However, assuming that the anti-biotic is fighting bacteria, I would say the zinc is responsible for the healing and anti-inflammatory properties we are told are inherent to zinc in the body (cell growth, wound healing etc etc).

However I am not a chemist, scientist or doctor and I wouldn't dare make the assumption that crushing up a zinc tablet in water would deliver the same positive action.

For example, in our house we have Zinc Picolinate tablets which is apparently a combination of zinc and an organic salt derived from picolinic acid, which is one of the more absorbable forms you can ingest.

Zinc acetate is aparrently 'prepared by the action of acetic acid on zinc carbonate' (Source: Wikipedia).

My concerns are:

1. There is no way of knowing whether these two forms act in the same way when applied in a topical manner, or knowing whether water alone is the most suitable solvent.

2. By crushing up a tablet in solution it makes it very difficult to establish a concentration. I suspect you are not likely to 'overdose' using a single 25mg tablet, but
these tablets contain other bulking agents that may not have a positive effect directly on the skin.

Also we know too much zinc can be bad (true for consumption, I am speculating it is also true in a topical sense).

I know I've been a bit detailed, but I have to ask myself these questions because I so often find assumptions lead to falsehoods. So the answer for me is to enjoy my Zineryt while it lasts, and I will be sure to ask my doctor about a suitable topical zinc solution when I return to see him. If I get an answer (unlikely) I'll be sure to let you guys know.

ntrino