A Study on the Effects of Skin Barrier Damage on TEWL
and the Efficacy of Jojoba Oil in Skin Barrier Restitution

Kim, Sang Hyun; Kim, Sang Hyun

Kor J Aesthet Cosmetol > Volume 3(1); 2005 > Article

Kor J Aesthet Cosmetol 2005;3(1): 189-200.

피부장벽손상이 TEWL에 미치는 영향과 호호바 오일의 피부장벽복구 역할에 대한 연구

김 상 현

A Study on the Effects of Skin Barrier Damage on TEWL and the Efficacy of Jojoba Oil in Skin Barrier Restitution

Sang Hyun Kim

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 20 female subjects in their 20s and 30s living in areas near Seoul, who were proven to have no atopic dermatitis by doctors, in order to enlighten people that the excessive usage of a special towel called the Italy towel resulting from wrong shower habits and the frequent usage of scrub cosmetics to remove dead cells can cause skin dryness and skin itching. Korean people use the Italy towel to remove dirt, which is an actual skin barrier structure that really works as a protective shield. For this experiment, we chose the part around the shinbone, which is least affected by intrinsic factors. People in Group A used scrub cosmetics everyday to damage the skin barrier structure while people in Group B used the Italy towel to damage the part. However, people in Group C used jojoba oil, which includes fatty acid, a main ingredient of the skin barrier structure, to moisturize the part. Using a Tewameter, a device that measures transpidermal water loss, the TEWLs (transpidermal water loss) of the subjects were measured for 8 weeks at 7-day intervals. First of all, in order to prove the damage on the skin barrier structure caused by scrub products and the Italy towel, TEWLs before the standard experiment were measured at 8.0 g/h/㎡ and 8.2 g/h/㎡, respectively, which showed similar levels. However, after the standard experiment, the TEWLs of those who applied scrub products increased to 12.1g/h/㎡while those who applied the Italy towel increased to 11.5 g/h/㎡after a 90-minute lapse. TEWLs in the control group measured 6.7 g/h/㎡ before the experimentand 7.2 g/h/㎡after a 90-minute lapse, which was a similar level of skin barrier damage to those caused by scrub cosmetics and Italy towel. Then, from the results of the experiment on skin barrier damage using scrub products or the Italy towel and the possibility of damaged skin barrier restitution by jojoba oil, subsequent experiments were conducted with the conclusion that the use of scrub products to remove dead cells damages the skin barrier. Before the experiment, TEWLs were 6.8 g/h/㎡ on the control part, 6.9 g/h/㎡ on the expected treatment part using scrub products, 6.8 g/h/㎡ on the expected treatment part using the Italy towel, and 6.9 g/h/㎡ on the expected treatment part using jojoba oil. After the final experiment in 8 weeks, the numerical values of TEWLs changed to 6.9 g/h/㎡ for the control part, 11.9 g/h/㎡ for the scrub-treated part, 13.4 g/h/㎡ for the Italy towel-treated part, and 5.6 g/h/㎡ for the jojoba oil-treated part, which means that the TEWLs on the parts treated by scrub products and Italy towelincreased, while the TEWLs on the part treated by jojoba oil decreased. Thus, jojoba oil was effective in preventing water from evaporating. In addition, the discrepancies between the TEWLs before the experiment and the average TEWLs over 8 weeks were +0.14 g/h/㎡, between 6.8 g/h/㎡ and 6.94 g/h/㎡ on the control part, which are almost similar, +4.66 g/h/㎡, between 6.9 g/h/㎡ and 11.56 g/h/㎡ on the part treated by scrub products, +6.38, between 6.8 g/h/㎡ and 13.18 on the part treated by the Italy towel, which is the most outstanding, and -0.96 g/h/㎡, between 6.8 g/h/㎡ and 5.84 g/h/㎡ on the part treated by jojoba oil, which rather decreased. From these results, we can reach the conclusion that the TEWLs on the parts treated by scrub products or the Italy towel increased due to skin barrier damage, but the TEWL on the part treated by jojoba oil decreased. The jojoba oil is effective in preventing water from evaporating, thus restituting the damaged skin barrier. From the experimental results, the excessive use of Italy towel resulting from wrong shower habits and the frequent use of scrub products can damage the skin barrier structure, which can cause skin troubles such as increased water loss rate, skin dryness and skin itching. Therefore, people should try to use a moisturizer with a fatty ingredient, which plays an important role in the skin barrier structure, in order to reinstitute damaged skin barrier, and they should avoid damaging the skin barrier with artificial or unnatural methods.