Glutathione injection can repair skin, reduce pigmentation. But it impacts your kidney

With glutathione readily available in the market, the government must step in to mandate sales exclusively through licensed distributors to guarantee product quality.

Representative image | Pixabay

The world of skincare and the increasingly profitable industry of skin lightening are now eyeballing the latest player in the market—glutathione.

Widely recognised as the best antioxidant in our body, glutathione is gaining ground as the latest “fad” in optimising skincare and achieving lightening effects.

What is Glutathione?

Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant that is now readily available in the market, widely recognised for its skin-lightening and anti-ageing properties. It’s made up of three essential amino acids—cysteine, glutamine, and glycine—and safeguards the body’s cells from damage caused by toxins, ageing, and external pollutants.

This chemical formula does not work if consumed orally or through patches due to negligible absorption. If you really want your skin to glow and reduce tanning and pigmentation, the only effective way is by injecting it into your body.

However, you must get the information about glutathione, its dosage, and injections verified by your dermatologist before going ahead with the procedure.

Benefits

Reduced tanning and sun damage: Glutathione acts as a shield against the harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays, which not only cause tanning but also result in premature ageing and skin cell damage.

Glowing skin: Glutathione plays the role of master and commander antioxidant in promoting your skin’s overall health. By removing toxins from your body, it gives you a clearer complexion and radiance. It enables your skin to naturally rejuvenate itself, resulting in a healthy and undeniable glow.

Diminished pigmentation: One of the major benefits of glutathione is its ability to reduce pigmentation and dark spots. The antioxidant has the potential to impede melanin production, which tends to accumulate unevenly leading to hyperpigmentation. By reducing dark spots, it gives your skin an even tone.

Skin repair and anti-ageing: Collagen is essential for your skin to maintain its elasticity. And glutathione enables collagen synthesis, making sure your skin looks smoother. It even helps in preventing the different symptoms of ageing on the skin such as acne, crow’s feet, wrinkling, among others.

Costs, dosage and more

The price per session for glutathione injection ranges between Rs 6,000 – Rs 12,000 depending on the strength of the dosage.

Additionally, you need to do regular kidney function tests (KFTs) after every eight to 10 shots of glutathione to ensure that your body can continue to handle the injections.

The ideal glutathione dosage for you depends on your weight, and it ranges between 10-20 mg per kg.

It’s recommended to split up the dose into smaller portions to ensure maximum optimisation.

So, is there a problem with glutathione?

In my 13 years of experience, I’ve learned this—don’t jump on the “biggest” and the “newest” trends. Such trends, especially when related to skincare, are supposed to be studied for what they are before we hitch our wagon to them and try them out ourselves.

Similarly, with glutathione’s expansion, there are a few issues that I’ve come across:

Purchase injections online? No, thank you

These days, glutathione is available in various forms. As intravenous is the most effective way to administer them, glutathione injections have become quite popular, prompting several e-commerce platforms to sell them.

However, I don’t recommend buying them. There are a few risks with injections purchased online; we don’t know if the cold chain was maintained while they were in storage, and credibility is often questionable when it’s purchased from a non-medical distributor.

Kidney function check

Glutathione affects your kidney function in the long run. You need to know what dosage works for you. And you will need to first take a kidney test to see the viability of administering the glutathione injection.

Non-dermatologists and other unlicensed professionals who offer glutathione injection services might not know the correct way to administer them and might even be oblivious to the possible requirement of a kidney test.

Measures to avoid risk

The fact that glutathione is now readily available for people to purchase is a strong reason for the government to step in and allow sales only through licensed distributors. This will ensure that only quality products enter the market.

Being comfortable in your skin at any age is something we all should eventually come to terms with. However, depending on how we acknowledge (or ignore) the reality of our skin, products like glutathione start appearing on our social media feeds, as advice from friends and well-wishers, and advertisements, among others. Before you know it, you’re contemplating purchasing it from popular e-commerce platforms.

On a personal level, it’s vital to keep your dermatologist in the loop or any medical service provider, for that matter. You must always be truthful to them about the amount of glutathione you inject in your body, especially if they are on the higher side, for example, 30-40 injections in a year. In such cases, you need to take a kidney test to see if your body can take on more.

This will help you understand your body’s bandwidth and limitations and ensure that you don’t face any unwanted consequences.

Dr Deepali Bhardwaj is a dermatologist, anti-allergy specialist, laser surgeon and internationally trained aesthetician. She tweets @dermatdoc. Views are personal.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)