Elisabeth Held, Snjólaug Sveinsdóttir, Tove Agner
DOI: 10.1080/000155599750011705

Moisturizers are often used in the prevention and treatment of irritant contact dermatitis. The present study was to determine whether long-term daily use of a moisturizer on normal skin would affect skin barrier function, hydration state, or susceptibility to sodium lauryl sulphate. Healthy volunteers used a moisturizer on one forearm 3 times daily for 4 weeks. The other forearm served as a control. Afterwards both forearms were challenged with a patch-test of sodium lauryl sulphate. Skin barrier function was evaluated by measuring trans-epidermal water loss and skin hydration by measuring electrical capacitance. Electrical capacitance was significantly increased on the treated arm during the treatment period. After challenge with sodium lauryl sulphate, trans-epidermal water loss was significantly higher on the arm treated with moisturizer than on the control arm. The results suggest that long-term treatment with moisturizers on normal skin may increase skin susceptibility to irritants.