Have you been tempted to prescribe nutrients in a cream in patients who aren’t responding to oral treatments? Or perhaps you’ve had patients come in all ‘patched’ already! Either way it seems like now is a great time for us to revisit the topics of skin anatomy, physiology and specifically its absorptive capacity.
As a get around for orally-intolerant patients, the skin, our ultimate barrier is a surprise suggestion…but we’d be wrong to view it as impenetrable.
Thankfully, there are clear criteria that must be met for anything (nutrient, nutraceutical, herb, drug, hormone, neurotransmitter etc etc) to be permitted passage. ..at least into the skin. Getting through all the cells of the dermis and then out the other side to the circulation to boost blood levels and produce actions elsewhere?… Well that’s akin to a backwards triple pike off the high platform! So which nutrients naturally make sense as topical or intradermal agents of change, great for a range of dermatological presentations ?
And which, either in their natural state, or with the assistance of cutting edge dermatological technologies, offer us truly transdermal treatments?
Where nutritional medicine trends take us – we must follow! So come with me and get confident when nutrients delivered via the skin are indeed viable 🐾
Dermal Delivery – Is It Just Skin Deep?
With nutrient delivery options of patches, gels, creams and more on the rise, the promise of absorption via the skin is being sold as simple and seamless—but is it really? This episode unpacks the difficult path nutrients must take to initially enter the epidermis and then (more difficult yet) make it out the other side and to the rest of the body. Rachel identifies which essential vitamins & minerals as well as nutraceuticals, in their natural state, are ‘permitted passage’. In addition to this she describes exactly the nature and number of modifications necessary for others to circumvent the skin’s barrier function. Under the Cosmeceutical category, and subject to even less regulation than our breakfast cereal, claims of ‘transdermal delivery’ (having actions beneath & beyond the skin) are being applied to products whose effects may be strictly skin-deep.
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