Whether it is a bath soap in bar or liquid form, its primary goal is to cleanse the skin. It can also help to soothe the skin and ensure it stays healthy. Moreover, the right type of soap for bathing can be determined by the type of skin. Skin types ranges from normal, dry, oily, or sensitive types. Some individuals, however, have a combination of different skin types.
Normal skin is moderately acidic, a mixture of sweat and natural sebum excreted from the pores. Although the skin pH should be around 5.5, it can vary from 4.0 to 6.5. A normal skin is neither dry nor oily. Pores are visible and fine, not large. It may occasionally have pimples.
Dry skin has thin papery texture, dry to the touch while an oily skin has a thick and coarse texture, often feels greasy and looks shiny. Oily skin often breaks out with pimples needs to be cleansed regularly and because of the high levels of sebum production. Unlike dry skin, sensitive skin is easily irritated, with regular feelings of itchiness, burning and chafing.
Soaps are to keep skin dirt and germ free, but in recent years, there has been a plethora of soap brands in the market. Though most soap brands use the same fundamental ingredients consisting of a fat and an alkali, the basic formula is modified to create thousands of products. However, the irritant potential of soap has long been known, thus the probe into what is the best cleanser for the skin and in the management of skin problems.
Surprisingly, for oily skins and some individuals with skin problem, acidic soaps such as black soap rather than the plethora of soap brands in the market are not the best.
In a study to assess the contribution of soap to skin problems in individuals seeking skin care, the bathing with neutral or mildly acidic soaps such as African black soap caused a significant improvement in skin conditions such as itchy skin and dry skin.
This was a study presented at the 6th Annual Scientific Conference and general meeting of the Nigerian Association of Dermatologists (NAD) in Ibadan by Dr Olufunmilayo Ajose, a consultant physician and dermatologist, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
“We found almost half of the patients who came to the skin clinic at LASUTH become better when we took them off soap and replace this with a soap substitute and they did not need any further treatment. This means the use of soap was largely contributory to their skin problem,” Dr Ajose stated.
Dr Ajose, who stated that majority of the patients complained of itchy and dry skin all over their body, declared: “When a person has an itchy skin, scratch will break the skin. When the skin layer is broken, it is easy to introduce germs and develop skin infections.”
“Although they complain of skin infection, the underlining problem was the use of soap. The skin is acidic but the soap is alkaline. So by putting a corrosive chemical on the skin, the corrosive chemical takes away all the oils on the skin. The oil is a natural lubricant on the skin and with its removal, it makes the skin more porous.
“When the skin is porous, it means that a lot of environmental allergens can penetrate into the skin. And when you have allergens enter the skin, it triggers itching. So the fundamental genesis of the problem is the use of soap.
Dr Ajose advocated that people use soap-less cleansers such as black soap, stating that since black soap did not contain soda, it belonged to an appropriate cleanser for the skin.
The study involved 5,600 referrals to the skin clinic at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, over a four year period. They were advised to change their alkaline skin cleansers to one of the two proprietary pH balanced skin cleansers, during the waiting time period to see the dermatologist, a period of between four and 12 weeks.
One of the skin cleansers was pH 7( neutral) while the other was pH 5.5. During the waiting period, data collected included disease history, basic skin and clinical examination as well as preliminary investigations comprising blood and urine tests, blood glucose and HIV status.
In the study, 85 per cent of the patients complied with the advice. Of these 65 per cent of the patients (55 per cent total clinic attendance) had their complaints sufficiently resolved requiring no further consultations. In addition, 30 per cent observed significant improvements in their skin condition. Although, 0.05 per cent reacted to the acidic alternative, none reacted to the neutral cleanser.
While patients reported more dramatic improvement in their skin with acidic cleanser, the researchers wrote that “the complaints that resolved completely were the acquired dryness of skin and pruritic skin lesions (an itchy skin condition). The inflammatory dermatoses were significantly improved. Whilst this was no cure for the infective dermatoses, symptoms were significantly relieved.” Skin diseases, or dermatoses, include , skin cancer, eczema, acne, impetigo, scabies, sunburn, warts, ringworm and pruritis.
Is it important that all individuals now start to bath with black soap. This might not be necessary in individuals with no skin problems.
Source:tribune
