For many years people with eczema have been advised by doctors to use a cheap emollient cream to soothe their irritated skin, Researchers have now discovered that aqueous cream BP can make the condition worse.
Although aqueous cream has been prescribed fro millions of suffers from childhood, it is the first time research had been carried out on an ingredient called sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). Previously it was thought the 'stinging' sensation affecting half of users was due to a preservative or antiseptic in the cream.
In a study by Bath University researchers, aqueous cream reduced the thickness of healthy skin in volunteers by more than 10 per cent in just four weeks and water loss was increased. Professor Richard Guy, Professor of Pharmaceutial Sciences at Bath University, said the remedy was likely to aggravate the dry, itchy rashes that plague eczema suffers.
He said: "The skin has a protective barrier layer of lipids, around one eighth the thickness of a sheet of paper, that stops chemicals from getting into the body and keeps moisture in.
SLS is a detergent used to mix oils into water-based moisturisation creams to give a nice creamy texture. It's also used widely in shower gels and other cosmetics. So to use this cream on eczemous skin, which is already thin and vulnerable to irritation, is likely to make the condition even worse,' The study was published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
The principal ingredients in Aqueous Cream are liquid paraffin, white soft paraffin and purified water. Other ingredients may vary but some have irritant effects including the preservative chlorocresol and the antimicrobial phenoxyethanol. Margaret Cox, of the National Eczema Society said the charity did not recommend aqueous cream as a moisturiser. Almost four million Britons have eczema, which is mainly treated with steriod creams.
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