UNAIR NEWS – Lecturer at Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, incessantly doing research. This time, dr. Linda Astari, Sp.KK and her colleagues tried to see the impact of the use of pampers on baby’s skin.
It is known that the marketing of Pampers products in 2013 reached 60% in Asia Pacific. As the need for babies in using pampers increases, it turns out that there are astonishing facts that using pampers, in the long run, has a detrimental effect. According to Linda, skin pH in infants has increased and tends to be alkaline, normal skin pH reaching 4.5 to 6.
“Increased skin pH is caused by faeces and urine that block the skin, ammonia component in urine, and proteolytic enzyme activity in faeces. Though acidic skin pH is needed to maintain normal skin microenvironments and protect against bacteria and fungi, ” she said.
This increase in pH, she added, will increase the activity of enzymes in faeces such as proteases and lipases that can irritate the skin. Besides that, it will also interfere with the function of the skin barrier causing several skin diseases, namely dermatitis.
“From this research, it was found that the pH of the skin covered by pampers was 6.11 and the skin that was not covered by pampers was 5.91,” she said.
dr Linda suggested that the replacement of pampers really should be done every 4 hours or at least 6 times a day. That is because it can reduce skin exposure by faeces and urine. In addition, ammonia in the urine will increase skin pH and increase the activity of proteolytic enzymes in excretions.
“Replacement of pampers less than 6 times can interfere with the function of skin protection,” she said.
It is also recommended to clean the area covered by pampers using water or washcloths. If previously many people use soap in cleaning, then it will increase the pH of the skin so that it gives a less beneficial effect on the skin. She continued, using a moisturising cream can protect the outer layer of the skin, accelerating the maturation of the skin’s protective function compared to lotion.
“It is expected that parents can be wise in the use of pampers to decrease several affect the baby’s skin,” she concluded.
Author: Khefti Al Mawalia
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
Reference:
https://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/dr/article/view/8056
Nadia Wirantari, Linda Astari, Iskandar Zulkarnain. 2019. Ph value of infant’s skin is higher on diaper area compared to nondiaper area. Vol 11 NO 1S 23RD Regional Conference OF Dermatology.
