by solveeczema | Jul 18, 2007 | About Products, Solveeczema.org
For comparison, here are the formulas of the new unscented Dove Sensitive Skin bar products (not okay per the solveeczema.org site) and the old unscented Dove product (fine per the solveeczema.org site):
Old formula (fine per solveeczema):
Sodium cocoyl isethionate
Stearic acid
Coconut acid
Sodium tallowate
Sodium isethionate
Water
Sodium stearate
Cocamidopropyl betaine
Sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate
Sodium chloride
Masking fragrance
Tetrasodium EDTA
Tetrasodium etidronate
BHT
Titanium dioxide
New Dove unscented Sensitive Skin formula (not okay per solveeczema web site):
Sodium lauroyl isethionate
Stearic acid
Sodium tallowate or sodium palmitate
Lauric acid
Sodium isethionate
Water
Sodium stearate
Cocamidopropyl betaine
Sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate
Sodium chloride
Tetrasodium EDTA
Tetrasodium etidronate
Maltol
Titanium dioxide
by solveeczema | Jul 18, 2007 | About Eczema, About Products, Must Reads, Solveeczema.org, Solveeczema.org
Until further notice, I must withdraw my recommendation for Dove bar products. (I have never recommended the liquid products.)
For general use, and especially for “the washing test” on the solveeczema.org web site, I no longer recommend using Dove or any bar products with the same surfactant formula as Dove’s current unscented Sensitive Skin product, the formula of which was changed as of January 2007. See previous posts on this blog for more information.
Initially, there were several products with the same surfactant formula as the OLD unscented Dove formula with sodium cocoyl isethionate (give or take a few fragrances and colors), but they, too, seem to be changing over to the new surfactant formula with sodium lauroyl isethionate.
Here’s the problem:
I can recommend that people use any soap product, because soaps are a very narrowly defined surfactant. Thus, I can say that all soaps, provided they are relatively non-drying (and there are MANY non-drying soaps) should be fine for people with detergent-reactive eczema (also provided there are no individual ingredient allergies).
Without getting into a detailed discussion about Dove, empirically, unscented Dove, a combination of mild detergents, soaps, and fatty acids, was also fine. It was more than fine, actually, it worked especially beautifully to remove existing detergents on the skin that are a problem for people with detergent-reactive eczema.
Unfortunately, I have no such empirical information about the new formula. In fact, the majority of visits to my blog these days appear to be from people trying to figure out what happened to the old unscented Dove formula. I have received several reports of problems, though I cannot draw conclusions until I know much, much more.
The old unscented Dove product had lots and lots of empirical support, not just from those who successfully used my site, but from dermatologists’ experiences over many years. I have no idea why Dove’s maker would want to monkey with this successful product line.
Until further notice, instead of unscented Dove for the “washing test” on the solveeczema.org web site, use Cal Ben’s liquid dish glow from a foaming dispenser. (Do not use it straight as it is quite concentrated.) Rinse especially well. As always, spot test it first to determine personal sensitivity to the ingredients.
by solveeczema | Jul 16, 2007 | About Products
Toothpastes are some of the more difficult products to find without detergent. The shelves of the health food stores carry choice after choice of “natural” toothpaste with detergent. Not just any detergent, usually sodium lauryl sulfate, one of the worst if detergents give you eczema.
There are a few, mainly European, choices that don’t have detergents in them, but they do have large amounts of sorbitol, which I don’t personally tolerate well. I’ve run across so many other adults who have the same trouble with sorbitol that I’ll admit I haven’t paid much attention to the non-detergent toothpastes that contain sorbitol. In fact, there are only three brands I know off the top of my head that don’t have sorbitol or detergents: Burt’s Bees, Weleda, and Ipsab Tooth Powder.
Only Burt’s Bees and Weleda had children’s versions – until just recently, when Burt’s Bees discontinued selling toothpaste! My local health food store ordered as much as they could, since it was a best seller for them, but even that stock is long gone. I have a healthy stash now myself, most of which I ordered through Amazon.
Weleda package inserts state that “All WELEDA Toothpastes are free from fluoride, detergents, synthetic fragrances, colors and preservatives. … All WELEDA Toothpastes are developed in cooperation wtih dentists and are scientifically tested.”
It’s too bad about the fluoride, I wish someone would come out with a non-detergent fluoride toothpaste.
by solveeczema | Jul 13, 2007 | About Eczema
Here’s an interesting email I received from a mom last year:
“thanks … since we switched to [soap products] this winter, nobody in my family has had dried, cracked skin (esp. around the knuckles), we’d ALWAYS have this problem, every year, during winter. but not this year, despite some intense soap washing (many kiddie outings, germs, etc.). just wanted to let you know since that was an unexpected benefit. thanks again!”
After following up, I discovered that this mom made the switch to soaps for her household after reading the site for other reasons – no one in the household suffered from eczema.
This is a counterintuitive result, but no longer surprising. I hear this from many people, that switching to soaps and other non-detergent products – even when some of the soaps are somewhat drying – overall results in skin that is less dry and needs less moisturizing.
After making the switch, usually the family member with detergent-reactive eczema will experience clear improvements in overall skin quality and dryness. The surprise has been that others experience unexpected benefits as well.
I have seen this in my own skin, even though I have never had any problems with eczema myself. Initially, when we switched our household to soaps, I thought “soaps” were so drying. I thought dryness was a compromise I was going to have to make to keep my son eczema free.
But in my case it turned out initial problems with dryness from soaps were the result of 1) past history of using detergent products to wash my hands and a long-term effect on my skin that I hadn’t realized, and 2) exclusively using an especially drying soap product.
Once we’d made the switch long enough that my son’s skin had healed and become more substantial, I realized that my own skin was less dry and rarely needed moisturizing. When I began mostly using a non-drying soap to wash my hands, I was even able to tolerate the drying soap I’d used before, without the negative effects I’d experienced before the healing period.
Since trying 30+ bar soaps recently, I have seen from experience that there are many, many neutral and non-drying soap products available. In spite of the bad rap soaps have gotten for being drying, I found fewer “drying” soaps than “moisturizing” ones. Finding a product that made my skin feel clean turned out to be a bigger problem than finding a non-drying one.
This effect on skin from exposure to detergents in the months prior to trying something new likely has profound implications for dermatology research, especially since detergents are so ubiquitous in first-world personal care products today.
by solveeczema | Jul 8, 2007 | About Eczema
Here’s a really well-done and interesting study: Association between severity of atopic eczema and degree of sensitization to aeroallergens in schoolchildren. (So much great dermatological research coming out of Germany these days.) If you click on the link, a wealth of related research pops up to the right.
Conclusion of the above study: “The degree of sensitization is directly associated with the severity of atopic eczema. We speculate that early epicutaneous sensitization to aeroallergens may be enhanced by damage of the skin barrier function. The specific IgE response seems to contribute to the severity of the disease in a dose-dependent fashion.”
It’s another reason to follow our grandparents’ (and Dr. Brazelton’s) advice to use soaps, not detergents, with babies, as detergents can cause a significant increase in skin membrane permeability (which would degrade the skin barrier function), unnaturally increase antigen penetration, and could cause sensitization per this paper, especially in babies who have such naturally permeable skin.
I am left to wonder if another interpretation of the study could be thus:
Given the association I have observed between atopic eczema and detergent reactions, with the severity of eczema being proportional to detergent strength and exposure; and given that detergents increase skin membrane permeability and antigen penetration; and given that detergents are ubiquitous in modern environments, and that what people have been washing with would affect the state of the skin during such a test (the skin changes over the course of months when detergents are eliminated from the home environment, i.e., removal of the detergents from the skin prior to the testing is unlikely to happen, and even if done, it takes months for the skin to normalize):
then it seems to me that the severity of eczema could indicate level of detergent exposure in the study population, which would also then be directly related to antigen load. Those with the most detergent would have the greatest compromise of the skin barrier, greatest antigen load, and greatest sensitization.
In other words, could the degree of sensitization noted in the study be the result of IMMEDIATE effects caused by detergent reactions, rather than just past sensitization (presumably because of the eczema’s effects on the skin barrier)? Or could it be the result of both past and immediate effects? Both are plausible, but knowing the answer definitively makes a difference in how the eczema and allergies might be prevented.
Additionally, the paper would not have taken into account the prevalence of detergents in modern household dust and the increased penetration of aeroallergens in lung tissue as a result. (In other words, the sensitization may not be through cutaneous exposure alone.)
Much of this and related research supports my theory that the eczema reaction may be a warning mechanism by the immune system, similar to the pain response for the nervous system. (See The Big Picture post earlier in this blog.) If the immune system is unnaturally loaded with antigen, it may benefit from “asking” the conscious brain to avoid allergens.
