Urea and Sodium Chloride in Moisturisers for Skin of the Elderly – A Comparative, Double-Blind, Randomised Study

Abstract

Urea has long been used to treat dry skin. In the present report, we compared two identical creams, with the exception that one contained both urea and sodium chloride and the other urea alone, in 23 healthy elderly subjects. Following a 2-week wash-out, their clinically non-eczematous, rough- or normal-appearing skin on the anterior proximal part of the lower legs was treated twice daily in a double-blind and randomised manner. We examined the treated areas by measuring transepidermal water loss, capacitance and electrical impedance. Our findings suggest that both moisturisers seem equally effective, at least concerning the ability to reverse impedance indices towards normal, an effect ascribed to changes in hydration of the stratum corneum. However, the relevance of the impedance parameters to the clinical picture is disputable and further studies of moisturisers in elderly subjects are needed.

Effects of Pretreatment with a Urea-containing Emollient on Nickel Allergic Skin Reactions

“…IMP tnainly detects the mobility of charge carriers and polar entities, determined by various factors, such as hydration, lipid content, number of cell layers in the horny layer, size of the corneocytes, and some properties of the deeper skin layers (21). In hne with previous reports, the treatment effects in our study included a decrease in TFWL (9) and an increase in MIX values (22). Eurther.…”

Biophysical assessment of atopic dermatitis skin and effects of a moisturizer

“…This is the third study of the effects of moisturizers on skin during long‐term treatment, using this type of electrical impedance instrument, but the findings were not as clear‐cut in the second study on the lower legs of normal geriatric subjects 24 . However, not surprisingly, the results vary and are affected by several factors such as design, population (especially age), part of the body and the study preparation.…”

Transepidermal water loss in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis update

“…Looking at the results of the 45 new studies, at least two measurements were performed in 14 [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] of the 45 studies, and the TEWL devices were calibrated prior to the study in four. [31][32][33][34] Avoidance of air turbulence was reported in five 18,19,31,34,35 of the 45 studies.…”