Vitamin K Benefits for Skin, Hair, and More

Vitamin C and Vitamin E are all-star skin care ingredients that many people are probably used to seeing on product labels, but have you heard of Vitamin K? Here, I’ll focus on sharing this little-known vitamin and describe frequently asked questions about vitamin K skin care.

Vitamin K is a nutrient that contributes to bodily functions, including helping wounds heal, maintaining bone health and adequate blood clotting. You may consume vitamin K when you take a daily multivitamin or from naturally occurring foods such as leafy greens, blueberries, soybeans, meat, cheese and eggs.

Vitamin K aids in skin recovery by helping to reduce inflammation and helping bruises and broken capillaries heal faster. In fact, it’s called vitamin K because it “coagulates”.

1. Post-operative care
Are you about to undergo laser treatment or cosmetic surgery? Vitamin K creams may be a useful part of your post-operative skin care regimen. Bruising is an expected side effect of pulsed dye laser treatments, cosmetic surgery and other facial procedures. In fact, studies have shown that applying Vitamin K cream after laser treatment can help reduce the severity of bruising.

2. Reduces Inflammation
Another benefit of vitamin K for the skin is that it has anti-inflammatory properties, which means it may improve inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Whilst there is limited research on vitamin K and its effects on psoriasis and eczema, there have been some patients who have seen an improvement in these symptoms with the use of vitamin K creams, which is not guaranteed to work for everyone, but it’s worth giving it a try to see if your skin can benefit.

3. Reduce dark circles
Vitamin K, in combination with other active ingredients, may help reduce dark circles. One study found that eye creams containing vitamin K, retinol, vitamin C and vitamin E improved dark circles.