THIS week's contributor is Amit Saha, Pharmacist and Group Technical Manager at Little Bodies - The value of the correct cleansing product for children: The physical properties of a person's skin are dependent on the skin's pH. Lower pH indicates acidity and higher pH indicates alkalinity. Adults usually have an acidic skin pH of around 5.5.
Technically, it is not the skin that has the pH, but the sweat and sebaceous glands on the skin that gives it an acidic nature. This is called the acid mantle.
A person's acid mantle can be washed or scrubbed away and it can also be neutralized by alkaline soaps and body washes that raise the pH of the skin. The acid mantle performs various functions. One of the major ones being antimicrobial action. Skin surface pH has been studied in its role in supporting the growth of normal microflora as well as inhibiting skin pathogen growth.
If you get that tight squeaky-clean feeling after washing, you've probably just stripped away your skin's natural oil and disrupted your acid mantle which increases your chances of skin damage and infection.
Newborns have a pH value closer to 7 which usually declines after birth. Because of this, their skin doesn't yet have this natural occurring acid mantle making their delicate skin prone to rashes, irritation, dryness, and chafing.
It is primarily for this physiological reason that babies' skin and sulphate needs particularly careful protection and should be washed using pH balanced, soap and sulphate free skin cleansers.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 20 Aug 18
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