Does Collagen Help Acne Or Acne Scars?

What is Collagen?

Collagen is the most common protein in the body, and its main job is to keep the structure of connective tissues like tendons, ligaments, and skin intact. It helps create a firm, smooth barrier on the skin, helps keep skin hydrated, and in addition collagen helps acne and acne scars.

When the right building blocks are in the body, it makes collagen. And food plays a part in giving the body the raw materials it needs. Three amino acids, glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline, are the main building blocks of collagen. You can get these amino acids from protein-rich foods like fish, meat, poultry, and legumes, or from collagen-rich foods like bone broth.

You can also take supplements to get these amino acids. Powdered collagen supplements, which are usually made from bovine or marine collagen, give the body these amino acids to help with collagen levels and production.

What does collagen do?

The job of collagen is to give structure to the connective tissues in your body, such as your skin, tendons, bones, ligaments, and organs.

Like we said before, you can think of collagen as the superglue of your body. It is a protein that helps hold the other important parts of healthy tissue together.

One of the most common proteins in your skin is collagen. Collagen is an important part of the skin because it helps to make new skin cells and keeps the skin soft, smooth, and elastic.

This process keeps your skin looking young and helps stop age-related skin problems like wrinkles, crow’s feet, and jowls from appearing.

Collagen is also important for how well your organs work inside your body. For example, the kidney filters have a base made of collagen.

It’s also in your blood vessels, liver, lungs, eyes, gut, and the cartilage that covers, protects, and connects your bones.

Simply put, collagen is an important building block for a lot of the skin and tissue inside your body. Almost every part of your body, from your skin and hair to your most important organs, can’t work without it.

Does Collagen Help Acne?

Collagen is the most common protein in your body, and this important protein makes up 80% of your skin. The amount of collagen in your skin goes down by 1% per year as you get older. Because of this drop in collagen, your skin loses its elasticity and you start to get wrinkles. As you get older, your skin loses its glow and tone because collagen breaks down and free radicals damage it.

With hydrolyzed collagen, you can turn back the hands of time and stop your skin from showing signs of aging. In two studies shown at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, 47 European women were given a daily supplement of hydrolyzed collagen to treat aging, acne, and dry skin. Women who took a daily dose of collagen saw their skin become 28 percent more hydrated and their fine lines and wrinkles become 30 percent less visible.

Collagen is widely known as a great way to treat aging skin, but it is also an important part of treating and healing many types of wounds, including acne.

Can collagen help get rid of acne scars?

The bacteria that cause acne can damage your skin tissue and weaken the way cells in the lower layers of your skin are put together. This structural matrix needs collagen, which is the most common protein in the dermal layer, to be fixed and made stronger. Also, if you pop a pimple, it will need to heal just like a cut, and collagen is a big part of how wounds heal.

The scar that a pimple leaves behind is the only thing worse than the pimple itself. Acne scars are permanent marks on your skin that are caused by damage to collagen. Cystic acne is usually caused by an infection in the deepest layer of your skin. Skin and fat cells die around the area where the infection is, leaving the deepest acne scars.

Most of us need a few weeks after an outbreak to get a scar. New blood vessels start to grow in the area and feed the skin. After many months, collagen starts to form in the area, which fills in the damaged skin. Collagen is a tough protein that looks like fibers and encourages cell movement. It also helps new tissue grow. By making up for lost volume, collagen can help scars look better right away. When your skin is hurt, cells called fibroblasts make collagen to heal the wounds.

When collagen contracts or doesn’t grow back completely after a pimple heals, it can leave behind scars that look like craters. Adding a collagen supplement to your daily routine can speed up collagen production and tissue repair, which can help acne scars heal faster. Your skin will get smoother and also be better hydrated.

3 Ways to Get More Collagen

1.Collagen-Boosting Foods

Diet and nutrition play a big role in having healthy skin, and it’s true that you can get more collagen in your body by eating foods that are high in collagen and other vitamins that help it work. Collagen bone broth is a soup made by boiling the bones and connective tissues of beef, pork, or chicken. It can help your body make more collagen, which is good for your skin, muscles, and joints.

You can also boost your collagen levels with foods like eggs, oysters, citrus fruits, berries, nuts, and seeds. When you eat foods like these that boost collagen production, you give your body the nutrients it needs to make collagen (e.g., amino acids and vitamin C).

2. Collagen-containing creams

Collagen creams and serums can help your skin in some ways, but it’s likely that they won’t be able to do what they say they can do, which is restore and replenish your body’s collagen.

Pure collagen in its natural form is too large to be absorbed through the dermis. This means that most collagen products will just sit on your skin until you wash them off. So including collagen-containing cream into your the ordinary skincare routine for acne isn’t recommended.

If the label says “hydrolyzed collagen peptides” or “collagen hydrolysate,” that’s a better sign. When collagen is broken down into smaller pieces, called collagen peptides, it is easier for your body to take in.

3. Supplements containing collagen

The best way to boost your collagen levels and improve the health of your skin is to take a collagen powder, pill, or liquid supplement every day.

Even though foods like bone broth can help, a 2019 study found that taking oral supplements with hydrolyzed collagen peptides is a much more effective and efficient way to increase the amount of collagen your body makes.

The bioavailability of collagen supplements, which is how quickly the body can absorb and use them, is what makes them so effective. When collagen supplements have hydrolyzed collagen peptides that have been treated and broken down into nano-sized pieces for maximum absorption by the body, they can quickly and effectively get the body to make more collagen. Marine collagen, in particular, is known to have the highest bioavailability and is therefore the most efficient and effective way to improve skin health.

By drinking collagen supplements with the right mix of hydrolyzed collagen peptides, antioxidants, and hydrating ingredients, you can speed up your skin’s healing, strengthen your body’s defenses against a variety of skin problems, and even fight fine lines and wrinkles!

Skin Side Effects of Collagen Supplements

As with any new skin care product or supplement, you should be aware of any possible side effects or allergic reactions. In one of my other blog posts, I talked about how you can be allergic to collagen. Collagen is a part of humans, but collagen supplements are often made from animal parts. If you already have allergies, this can cause allergic reactions and other unpleasant side effects.

Typical Signs of a Collagen Allergy

Digestive Problems: If you feel bloated, it could be because your body has too much collagen. If this happens to you, you should consider lowering your dose.

Headaches: Collagen has an amino acid called glutamic acid, which, when taken in large amounts, has been linked to headaches. Reduce your dose if your collagen supplements give you a migraine.

If you already have allergies, especially to eggs, fish, or other proteins, and you go into an anaphylactic shock, you need to get emergency medical help right away. People with severe allergies should choose a collagen supplement that is safe for people with allergies.

In conclusion

When it comes to treating acne, collagen supplements can help the skin make more collagen, which can be helpful. Collagen can make the skin more elastic and keep it from drying out. This makes it a great addition to a skin care routine for people with acne and a great way to make acne scars look better over time. But collagen is not a treatment for acne. Collagen won’t clear your pores or get rid of extra oil on your skin. Its main purpose in an acne treatment plan is to strengthen the skin’s barrier and make uneven acne scars less noticeable.