Does zinc help with skin disease? What the research does and doesn't show

The evidence doesn't support zinc as a treatment for psoriasis or rosacea — the one small trial found on each showed no benefit. For acne, most of the trial evidence (10 of 14 studies in one review, plus a separate meta-analysis on inflammatory lesion counts) points toward a benefit. For eczema (atopic dermatitis), only two small trials exist, and just one of them found a benefit.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support zinc as a treatment for psoriasis or rosacea — no benefit was found in the single trial identified for either condition. It doesn't establish zinc as a reliable eczema treatment either; only two small trials exist, and they disagree. And none of the trials below are about topical zinc oxide cream specifically — they tested oral zinc supplementation, a different product from the barrier cream covered on zinc oxide cream.

What the trials found

A 2020 systematic review searched four databases through May 2019 for randomized trials of oral zinc supplementation across six inflammatory skin conditions in children and adults, and found 22 trials meeting its criteria. For acne vulgaris, 10 of 14 identified trials found a benefit from zinc. For hidradenitis suppurativa, all 3 trials found a benefit. For atopic dermatitis (eczema), only 1 of 2 small trials found a benefit; for diaper dermatitis, the single trial found one found a benefit. For psoriasis and rosacea, the one trial identified for each found no significant benefit. The review's authors called the acne and hidradenitis suppurativa evidence preliminary and the atopic dermatitis and diaper dermatitis evidence more limited still, and asked for larger, more consistent trials across all six conditions before drawing firm conclusions.

A separate 2020 meta-analysis focused specifically on acne found that people with acne had significantly lower serum zinc levels than people without acne, and that using zinc, as a standalone or add-on therapy across the pooled studies, was associated with inflammatory papule (pimple) counts that were significantly lower than in people not given zinc, with no higher rate of side effects than the comparison treatments. The abstract didn't detail the number of pooled trials, the doses used, or whether the treatments were oral, topical, or both, which limits how precisely this result can be applied to any one product or dose.

Condition	Trials found	Result
Acne vulgaris	14 (systematic review) + a separate meta-analysis	Benefit in 10 of 14; papule counts also improved in the meta-analysis
Hidradenitis suppurativa	3	Benefit in all 3 (small, preliminary evidence)
Atopic dermatitis (eczema)	2	Benefit in 1 of 2
Diaper dermatitis	1	Benefit found
Psoriasis	1	No significant benefit
Rosacea	1	No significant benefit

Questions people ask

Does zinc help with acne? Are zinc pills good for acne?

Most of the trial evidence points toward a benefit: a 2020 review found 10 of 14 acne trials showed a benefit from oral zinc, and a separate meta-analysis found that pimple counts were lower in people using zinc, and that people with acne had lower serum zinc to begin with than people without acne. That's a reasonably consistent signal across a small trial base, not a guarantee for any individual, and neither review specifies a dose to recommend.

Does zinc help with eczema? Is zinc good for eczema?

Only two small randomized trials of oral zinc for atopic dermatitis (eczema) were identified in the 2020 review, and just one of them found a benefit. That's too little and too inconsistent evidence to call zinc an established eczema treatment.

Is zinc oxide cream good for eczema?

That's a different question from the oral zinc trials above — topical zinc oxide is a skin-surface barrier product, covered on zinc oxide cream, and no dedicated randomized trial of it for eczema specifically was found for this page.

Does zinc cause acne?

No trial identified for this page found zinc supplementation causing acne. The evidence above points the other way — most trials found a benefit, and people with acne tended to have lower serum zinc than people without it.

Which zinc is best for acne?

Neither review compared specific zinc compounds against each other for acne, and doses weren't detailed clearly enough across studies to recommend one. See how to choose a good zinc for how to evaluate any zinc product generally.

When to talk to a doctor

Persistent or severe acne, eczema, psoriasis or rosacea are worth evaluating with a dermatologist, who can diagnose the specific condition and discuss treatments with a larger evidence base. Zinc is not an established treatment for any of these conditions on its own, and nothing in the evidence above supports using it as a substitute for a dermatologist's care. If you take prescription medication or are pregnant or nursing, talk to a doctor before adding any supplement.

Related reading: zinc oxide cream, zinc benefits: what the research does and doesn't show, and how to choose a good zinc.