Researchers slather warning signs on TikTok “slugging” skincare trend

15 Aug 2022 --- Slathering a petrolatum-based ointment on the skin is known as “slugging” and is a popular beauty fad on TikTok, but it is potentially dangerous according to recent research. Researchers from the Department of Dermatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA and Harvard Medical School, USA, screened 50 videos to determine the source and educational value of these videos.

Social media has had a significant influence on how we exchange information and interact. With over 1 billion users monthly, TikTok is one of the social media platforms with the quickest growth. According to the researchers, it’s hardly surprising that patients are turning to TikTok for medical information.

With people expressing their own viewpoints and experiences and establishing online communities, topics relating to dermatology and skincare have grown in popularity. The TikTok craze slugging involves applying a petrolatum-based ointment to the skin as the final step in your nighttime skincare regimen.

The researchers say, slugging has the potential to result in acne because of its occlusive nature and when layered, can accidentally boost the efficacy of topical treatments (such as steroids). In their study, they looked at the top 50 TikTok videos that discussed slugging and evaluated each one’s origin, subject matter, and production value.

In contrast, Kathleen Dunlop, global VP of Vaseline, spoke with PersonalCareInsights in March saying that Vaseline has a long history of creating efficacious products which actively heal and protect the skin.

“It has been part of skincare routines for over a century and is often passed down from generation to generation.”

Methods and matrixes
The term slugging was once searched for on TikTok in anonymous mode. The top 50 videos were aired. Videos that were not in English and did not feature “slugging” were omitted from the study.

The approximately 27 million views across all “slugging” videos are proof of social media’s influence. Only 20.4% of the films examined were classified as educational, and less than half of those identified hazards, highlighting the potential harm that uncontrolled information might do to the general population.

Videos were divided into three categories: influencers (defined as those with more than 5,000 followers), healthcare professionals (HCP), and others. Furthermore, content kind, including entertainment, patient experience, and instructional information was also kept into consideration.

The video was categorized as educational if advantages and disadvantages were covered. Each movie was evaluated by four impartial reviewers using the validated DISCERN scale, which rates the informational value of each video.

The researchers state that they also discovered HCPs had a higher number of views and followers than other authors, suggesting that users consider HCPs’ social media as a reputable source of information.

Patients who seek medical advice from these platforms have a unique chance to connect with HCPs, learn from them, and correct any potentially erroneous information. Social media has the ability to empower patients and spread knowledge.

However, there is no assurance that the material is correct, and frequently there are no sources. Other viral beauty fads may not be as risk-free despite the modest potential hazards of slugging, which should encourage more dermatologists to produce easily available instructive movies on TikTok.

By Mieke Meintjes

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