Influence of silk clothing therapy in patients with atopic dermatitis

Dermatol Reports. 2019 Dec 22;11(2):8176. doi: 10.4081/dr.2019.8176. eCollection 2019 Sep 19.

Abstract

The existence of red, inflammatory, and chronic itchy condition in the skin is commonly speculated as the presence of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) in patients. The use of silk clothing as a non-pharmacological approach in the management of AD has been noticed as an effective alternative therapy; however, the evidence based on its usage is poorly served. Hence, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of using pure silk clothing in the therapy of AD patients. The clinical trial was performed by recruiting 30 patients with AD for up to 8 weeks of observation. They were instructed to wear pure silk clothing for the whole day without any additional medication and were investigated using the AD-related questionnaires. The findings revealed a significant decrease of AD occurrence along with a great improvement of patient's quality of life at each time point. Our investigation demonstrated that this treatment promotes good skin appearance, comfort, and remarkable improvement in the quality of life. This promising preliminary outcome warrants a further study; hence, it can be a potential non-pharmacological treatment choice for controlling the severity of AD.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Questionnaire; Silk clothing; Therapy.

Grants and funding

Funding: This study was funded by the TSGH GCRC clinical trial program: 106-137; TSGH (Songshan) medical research program: 107-10, 108-16, 108-17.