ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2002 February;137(1):31-6

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Salicylic acid peeling in the treatment of acne. Personal experience

De Padova M. P., Vincenzi C., Venturo N., Tosti A.

Università degli Studi - Bologna Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica Specialistica e Sperimentale Sezione di Clinica Dermatologica

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of salicylic acid peeling in the treatment of mild to moderate acne.
Methods. We treated 13 patients affected by comedonic papular-pustular acne of mild to moderate intensity (severity grade from 0.25 to 2.50 on Cunliffe and Burke scale) and 2 patients affected by excoriated acne with a 25% solution of salicylic acid in 95° ethanol.
Results. A great improvement was observed in 7 out of 13 patients with comedonic papular-pustular acne (average reduction of severity from 1.75 to 0.25), a slight improvement in 4 patients (average reduction of severity from 1.75 to 0.50) and no change in 2 patients’; 1 out of 2 patients with excoriated acne showed a notable improvement.
Conclusions. Acid salicylic peeling can be considered a good complementary treatment for mild to moderate acne and excoriated acne. It is a safe treatment, without severe or permanent side-effects. It can also be used for active acne where other peelings (such as glycolic acid) are contraindicated.