Topical treatment of severe xerosis: Results of an observational study

Dry skin refers to an itchy eczema condition commonly seen, due to the extreme dryness of the skin. This situation occours when the skin protective layer which contains water, decreases. This situation can be related to physiological and pathological conditions. Objectively, skin appears dry, finely scaly, rough to the touch, sometime fissured and sometime associated with itching and/or burning. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the clinical efficacy, in the main forms of skin xerosis, of a cosmetic product for topical use, consisting of a mixture of active ingredients (L-carnitine, biotin and vitamin B12) capable of performing moisturizing, anti-inflammatory and soothing action. 30 patients were selected, and randomly divided into 2 groups: a first group of 20 patients who applied the active ingredient and a second group of 10 patients to whom the package contained a placebo. Everyone applied the product 2 times/day on affected areas. We adopted objective and subjective evaluation criteria, such as: erythema, desquamation and lichenification in a scale from 1 to 4. Furthermore, subjective symptoms were evaluated through a visual analogue scale (VAS) from 1 to 10 regarding itch. This product was capable to reduce skin xerosis in all the indications. We can therefore conclude that the use of a topical product containing L-carnitine, biotin and vitamin B12 represents a valid therapeutic approach to xerosis, induced by skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis.