Wondering About Bioskin Products
from Michael M.

Any experiences or reports of people trying Bioskin products. This has been featured extensively on the Ideal World home shopping channel (Sky digital channel 653) [in U.K. –Ed]. It reportedly treats a host of skin conditions from P to eczema to acne, which makes me wonder about the product because I don't see a link between P and acne. Whenever they feature this product on Ideal World they always have a string of live on-air testimonies from satisfied customers. It costs approx £30 for a 150ml bottle I think or £12 for a 50ml. My first 50 ml bottle is in the post and I will let you know how I get on.  

P.S. I'm 26 with relatively mild p, mainly confined to my scalp and armpits with a few other small spots on elbows and legs. Unfortunately I find some of the stories on your site scary, as I, like a lot of other people, wonder how far it will spread.

Thanks, -Michael M.

*****

Ed’s Response:  You’re the first to mention Bioskin products, Michael.  I found a web site — http://www.bioskin.de/english/home.html — that describes the company and its research aspects but not the products, so I’m still unenlightened.

The link between acne and P seems to be responsiveness to Vitamin A derivative products.  Evidently acne blemishes and P lesions can, sometimes, both be helped by similar Vitamin A-based products.  I don’t know whether or not a vitamin-A derivative is the active ingredient in the specific Bioskin products you’re using — but I wouldn’t be surprised. A derm or pharmacist would know more.

I wish there were something I could say to assuage your fears about “how far it will spread.”  Unlike many other diseases, P does not have a predictable “course.”  How P will manifest in any individual seems to be a combination of genetic proclivity, trigger factors and environmental factors including, but not limited to, lifestyle.  Many people have mild or moderate P all their lives.  A very few have gone from “no signs” to “severe” in a matter of weeks.  A lot of flakers experience a gradual worsening in their P from onset over months or years and then a plateau somewhere between “mild” and “severe” that appears to be permanent.

But perhaps the best reason not to fear P’s spread is the new armada of drugs on the horizon.  We are on the verge of being able to contain our P better than ever, primarily through new so-called “biologic” drugs that will go to the root of the problem by controlling the behavior of specific cells that are part of our immune systems.  What will this mean?  It will mean properly diagnosed and treated flakers may never know an increase in their P coverage because it will be stopped from worsening — and their current symptoms will acquiesce — at the point at which they commence treatment.  The new drugs aren’t cures, but they may be the next best thing.

So your future as a flaker should NOT be defined by fear, but by hope and optimistic expectations.  Mine are.  Good luck and stay in touch.  -Ed

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