Enhancing the Skin Barrier of the Perineal Skin

The skin is the largest organ of the human body that fulfills multiple essential tasks. Among others, it forms the boundary between the inside and outside and it provides protection against mechanical and chemical threats. Prolonged and repeated exposures to irritants like urine, stool, skin cleansing chemicals and procedures may exceed the protective capacity of the skin barrier resulting in an incontinence-associated dermatitis of the perineal skin. This session will describe how the perineal skin is damaged and it will explore in detail the underlying mechanisms to enhance and restore the skin barrier function with topical leave-on products.