The ideal type of oatmeal to use for a bath is colloidal oats. It is made of oat soil in an extremely fine powder, so it dissolves in water and mixes evenly.
Colloidal oats operate in different ways. “It contains vitamin E, an antioxidant which strives to prevent cellular damage to the skin,” explains Oyetewa Asempa, MD, assistant professor of dermatology and director of the Skin of Color Clinic at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Starts and complex sugars in colloidal oats also help the skin to keep moisture and maintain a healthy skin barrier.”
It also reduces skin inflammation by blurring the effect of cytokines (inflammatory proteins in the body that cause skin itching) and can reduce the amount of bacteria called Staphylococcus On the skin, which can contribute to eruptions of eczema.
No recent research has measured to what extent oat baths work for atopic dermatitis, but a small study of 64 participants revealed that the creams that included colloidal oat flour reduced the symptoms by more than 50%.
“Some researchers also speculate that colloidal oats can help rebalance the skin microbiome, promoting a more standardized skin environment that could reduce thrusts,” explains Bruce A. Brod, MD, Dermatology Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
But although these theories are promising, science is still in development and experts need more research to fully understand how and why oat baths can benefit certain people with eczema, says Dr. Brod.
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