Babies and toddlers are supervised by their parents, while older children spend time outside the home for the first time, including in the playground and playing sport. Naturally, they are not as mature as teenagers when it comes to making their own decisions. What do parents need to pass on to them?
Skin cleansing
Looking back on our own childhood, our parents in the post-war period did not take care of our skin as seriously as is the case today. The main thing was to cleanse the skin. And that is still the case today. However, the products have changed fundamentally. Alkaline bar soaps have given way to liquid soaps and shampoos with different compositions. One key aspect is the alkali-free surfactants used, which have a lower irritation potential. As with other age groups, pH-neutral, i.e. slightly acidic bases are recommended.
Even without cleansing gel or full-body shampoo, the shower has a high fun factor and is gentle on the skin barrier. What's more, with the exception of the perianal area, the skin's own self-cleansing programme is much more effective in children than you might think. However, prolonged exposure warm water, especially in the presence of cleansing products, causes children's skin to swell easily and opens the door to infections
Atopic and dry skin
Young skin regenerates very quickly after cleansing. The acid and lipid mantle are restored after a few hours by the activities of the sebaceous and sweat glands and the microbiome. Creams and lotions are therefore only necessary in special situations such as congenital atopic or dry skin.
In these cases, anhydrous oleogels, which are also used for infants, are particularly suitable. They are very economical and do not contain a water phase that needs to be stabilised with additives. They are ideal if they contain skin barrier components such as fatty acids, ceramides and sterols in a triglyceride matrix. Accordingly, neutral oils made from triglycerides of medium-chain saturated acids or vegetable oils are suitable.
If vegetable oils are contained in skin care products, it is generally important to ensure that the skin is not exposed to sunlight for a short time after application. This is because, despite the presence of antioxidants, irritating peroxides are easily formed due to the polyunsaturated essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid, alpha- and gamma-linolenic acid.
Reddening of the skin
However, if sun erythema has occurred, the essential fatty acids and their glycerides are particularly suitable for after-treatment as they have a high anti-inflammatory potential. Linseed oil and kiwi seed oil contain the highest levels of these acids. However, they are very impractical due to their oily character.
However, when packaged in nanodispersions, they behave like watery lotions and are absorbed very quickly into the skin. If the child has come into contact with a hot object, which experience has shown can easily happen at this age, these products can also largely prevent the formation of blisters.
Light protection
One of the most important tasks in children's skin care is sun protection. Unlike small children, who should not be exposed to full sun, skin exposure cannot always be avoided when playing outdoors. This is not a bad thing if the skin is confronted with radiation from the beginning of the year and slowly builds up its own protection by producing melanin as the position of the sun changes.
Unlike in the past, when adventure playgrounds consisted of undeveloped plots of land, today's children spend more and longer indoors. The skin is then quickly overwhelmed when the radiation is unfamiliar and intense.
Protection is required that is based on the local UV index (UVI), which can be called up on the internet at any time. Ideally, the concentration of light protection filters should be such that the skin's own melanin production does not come to a standstill. This is because melanin is naturally the best protection there is. In other words, the highest possible sun protection factor is not always the best choice.
Antioxidants are superfluous in the preparations, as effective filters prevent radicals from forming in the first place. In addition, antioxidants are quickly broken down and inactivated in the usual concentrations used. In high concentrations, they generate radicals themselves under irradiation.
In combination with barrier ingredients, sun protection products are quickly absorbed and have a moisturising effect at the same time. Quick absorption is important if you don't want to leave marks everywhere when romping around.
For children and adults alike, the question always arises as to whether a day cream with a sun protection filter should be applied purely as a preventative measure, even if the children are mainly at home, nursery or school. Fortunately, this is not necessary, even if marketing recommends it and studies warn of alleged early damage
Sensitive skin
Statistics show an increased sensitivity of children's skin to external influences. Atopic skin and allergies are increasingly common at this age. This is not due to our environment, which has clearly become cleaner, even if there are constant sensationalist reports to the contrary.
Just think back to the soot from steam trains, lead from combustion engines, emissions from the steel and chemical industries and smoggy weather conditions. The causes of sensitivity today are more of a cultural nature. In cities in particular, the standard of hygiene is so high that children's immune systems do not develop sufficiently in the early years. In other words, parents should expect more from their children's skin, not take hygiene to extremes and let their children run free in nature as often as possible.
If sensitivities also occur, skin diagnostics and possibly diary notes documenting skin care habits, diet and drug consumption are useful to get to the bottom of the causes. Even water hardness can have a major influence if you are predisposed to it. It is also worth taking a closer look at the INCI declaration of cosmetics.
Healthy skin flora
Another important factor is an intact and healthy skin flora, aka skin microbiome, which consists of a team of different specialists that have been working with our body for millions of years
This results in a simple rule: products and ingredients that are harmful to the microbiome are also harmful to our skin. This usually involves additives such as preservatives.
Conversely, it can be concluded that physiologically tolerable substances do not harm the microbiome – provided the concentrations do not exceed physiologically sensible limits.
Dr Hans Lautenschläger |
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