What Is Aquaphor?
Aquaphor is a product created by Eucerin. It is supposed to be for advanced healing of severely dry or cracked skin. As you can guess from the name it is also supposed to increase moisture within the skin, prevent irritation, and promote the natural healing process.
One of the biggest problems associated with eczema is dry and cracked skin. And then when it starts itching it and you scratch it the lesions can burst oozing an unpleasant puss and inviting bacteria to develop an infection. When you take care of eczema as soon as you have an outbreak you reduce the likelihood that there will be further complications such as infections.
Aquaphor has been specially formulated and can be used by babies and adults alike. It is a gentle and non-irritating formula that can seal in moisture and prevent future outbreaks from developing. It can even be applied to the lips because it is not toxic and won’t make you gag if you accidentally taste it.
Petrolatum is used in Aquaphor to create a barrier within the skin. It can help to seal in the skin’s own moisture while at the same time adding additional moisture to the skin. If your skin has cracked or peeled then using Aquaphor may be a good choice because it can absorb 3 times its own weight in the juices that are released and can help to keep the skin moist in order to enhance the healing process. Further, it does not use preservatives or dyes that could irritate or be harmful to recovering skin.
Aquaphor Ingredients
Petrolatum: coats the skin and provides a soothing barrier
Panthenol: penetrates the skin to provide deep healing and to promote moisturization
Glycerin: draws and holds moisture into the skin. Even in the most drying environments glycerin can draw out moisture and hold several times its weight in moisture.
Bisabolol: has soothing properties but is also gentle enough to use on sensitive skin
Does Aquaphor Work?
There are some people who have been impressed with the benefits of using Aquaphor because it can help to keep their skin moist throughout the day and they don’t constantly need to be reapplying it. Aquaphor won’t help in controlling every aspect of eczema and is not very beneficial in helping to prevent future outbreaks in part because it doesn’t have ingredients that can act as anti-bacterial agents. But that isn’t to say that it is the worst product on the market.
Aquaphor is probably above average when compared to other products. It can help to soothe your skin and provide relief from itching but it can’t help to prevent future problems. If you are looking for the most complete and all-around eczema treatment then this is not the answer but it may very well be a decent answer for people with severely dry skin. Living in dry environments has taught me that I need to choose a product with ingredients like glycerin because it can continually draw out moisture throughout the day. Aquaphor has glycerin but is lacking in a few other areas.
