The skin is the largest organ of the human body, and intact, good skin has a natural barrier function that protects various organs and tissues in the organism from damage by mechanical, physical, chemical and biological harmful factors in the external environment, and on the other hand, prevents the loss of various nutrients, electrolytes and water in the tissues.
The skin barrier is mainly composed of the stratum corneum, structural lipids and the skin lipid membrane, of which the first two form a brick wall-like structure and are important components of the skin barrier, while the skin lipid membrane is the outermost defense of the skin barrier. Some studies have shown that when the skin barrier is damaged, the density of bacteria implanted in the skin is tens of times higher than that of healthy skin, making the chances of skin infection much higher.
A survey of acne patients conducted by some sources found that external use of irregular acne cosmetics or external rubbing with alcohol-containing acne products, washing the face with water that is too hot, using soap more than twice a day, cleansing milk more than three times a day, frequent exfoliation, and not using make-up and emollients are risk factors for skin barrier damage.
Most acne patients have the bad habit of over-cleaning their skin due to greasy skin. Frequent use of soap or acne cleanser, in which the soap salts easily lead to edema of the stratum corneum and loss of natural moisturizing factors; using hotter water to wash the face or bathing for a longer period of time can lead to loss of lipids on the skin surface. Frequent exfoliation or frequent use of scrub-type cleansers often leave the stratum corneum of the skin in an exfoliated state. In addition, some acne patients have misconceptions about skin care, believing that the use of lotions and emollients will aggravate the greasy state of the skin, block the pores, and easily cause acne to worsen, so they do not use skin care products.
A decrease in skin moisturizing ability leads to a decrease in skin barrier, and a decrease in skin barrier function further leads to a decrease in skin moisturizing ability, thus causing a vicious circle. Therefore, for the barrier function of normal skin, moisturizing is not only an important part of maintaining the physiological function of the skin and delaying skin aging, but also an important part of preventing and treating skin diseases.
It can be seen that although acne patients have oily skin, they should pay more attention to skin moisturization and repair while treating acne. Only gradually repaired and intact skin can help to cure acne and prevent acne recurrence.
Due to the large differences in skin properties, the choice of skin care products varies from person to person. For acne patients’ skin, the principle of selection is that it is moisturizing but not too greasy and does not cause skin allergies. It does not contain any color or fragrance, preservatives or other additives that may cause skin allergies. It is not a kind of medicine, but plays a supplementary role in the treatment of some skin diseases. Its main purpose is to increase the hydration of the skin, that is, to increase the water content of the stratum corneum of the skin and to improve the skin barrier function.