What’s the Deal With Hypochlorous Acid, the Latest Skincare Fad?

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Dermatologists weigh in on a recent ‘skinfluencer’ favorite

by
Rachael Robertson, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today
May 27, 2025 • 3 min read

Welcome to Culture Clinic, MedPage Today’s collaboration with Northwell Health to offer a healthcare professional’s take on the latest viral medical topics.

If your patients have spent any time on skincare TikTok recently, they’ve probably seen influencers promoting the wonders of hypochlorous acid.

Searches for it have skyrocketed in the past year and luxury and budget makeup brands alike now sell hypochlorous acid products touting benefits for acne, eczema, rosacea, and beyond. One popular brand advertises how their spray “helps calm visible irritation, reduce redness, and keep flare-ups in check — one spritz at a time.”

Dermatologists told MedPage Today that hypochlorous acid — generally sold as a spray, though also available in creams and serums — can be useful for some skin conditions.

While social media has helped spark the recent craze, Raman Madan, MD, chief of dermatology at Glen Cove Hospital in New York, told MedPage Today that consumers have been using hypochlorous acid in their skincare routines for at least 10 to 15 years — and scientists have known about it for much longer.

It has long been known to have antimicrobial activity and has been used since the 1800s to “help with wounds and sterilization,” Madan said.

Shilpi Khetarpal, MD, a dermatologist with the Cleveland Clinic, told MedPage Today that her office uses hypochlorous acid to prep a patient’s skin before injections. It’s not irritating like other antimicrobial agents, she said, and can be used even on sensitive skin. Whereas alcohol in a paper cut would burn, hypochlorous acid would not.

“Hypochlorous acid can be used in addition to other agents as an antimicrobial — whether it’s in a spray or whether you’re soaking gauze with it to basically get rid of bad bacteria and allow the wound to heal or decrease secondary bacterial infections,” she said. “It’s a little more gentle, so it’s also better tolerated.”

Notably, hypochlorous acid is effective at targeting both gram-positive bacteria, like strep and staph infections, as well as gram-negative bacteria, like Pseudomonas and E. coli. Alcohol works well against gram-positive but is less effective against gram-negative bacteria, Khetarpal said.

Applying hypochlorous acid can reduce counts for the bacteria that cause acne, eczema, and psoriasis flare ups, she said. Even spritzing on some hypochlorous acid spray after a sweaty workout can tame some of the unwanted bacteria thriving in the warm, moist environment, she added.

When it comes to using hypochlorous acid for skincare, Madan explained that it works by “neutralizing pro-inflammatory mediators and working as an oxidizing agent.” Used as an antimicrobial, it “can calm irritated or inflamed skin.” He noted that patients with inflammatory skin conditions like acne or rosacea most benefit from adding hypochlorous acid into their skincare routine.

“It’s not going to be a cure-all for these conditions, but it can certainly be incorporated into a routine … where it’s providing benefit,” Khetarpal noted.

Both Madan and Khetarpal cautioned that hypochlorous acid shouldn’t be applied more than a few times daily for skincare purposes since it can damage the good bacteria, too, which is not advisable.