Could bleach heal bed sores and eczema? very diluted may help to heal irritated skin By Jennie Agg Don't try this at home, but bleach may help to heal irritated or damaged skin - and even keep it looking younger for longer. Bathing in very diluted bleach is a common treatment for eczema in the U.S. and in studies it's been shown to alleviate severe eczema. Now scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine, California, think it could also have other medical uses, including healing skin damaged by cancer treatment, bed sores and diabetic ulcers. A study found that bleach baths helped clear up moderate to severe eczema in children They bathed human skin cells and mice in diluted bleach, using a concentration of 0.005 per cent sodium hypochlorite - the active ingredient in bleach. This is a similar strength to a chlorinated swimming pool. They found that the bleach appeared to inhibit inflammation. A previous study in 2009 using a similar‑strength solution found that bleach baths helped clear up moderate to severe eczema in children. 'Originally, it was thought that bleach may serve an antimicrobial function, killing bacteria and viruses on the skin,' says Dr Thomas Leung, a dermatologist and lead author of the study. But the concentrations used are not high enough for this to be the sole reason. So we wondered if there could be something else going on. Normally, when the body detects infection or damage a protein in cells is activated to marshal our immune response. This can involve instructing immune cells to flood the affected site, causing swelling and pain. But in order to send these signals, the protein has to enter the cell's nucleus. The Stanford study suggests the sodium hypochlorite in bleach prevents this happening. Eczema-prone skin can be damaged more easily and the subsequent immune response can spiral out of control. So bleach helps by blocking this immune response and, in turn, the inflammation Eczema-prone skin is drier than healthy skin and the protective barrier of water and oil doesn't function as well. As a result, it can be damaged more easily and the subsequent immune response can spiral out of control, making patches of eczema even more irritated. So bleach helps by blocking this immune response and, in turn, the inflammation. The Stanford study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation in November, also found that the weak bleach solution helped heal sunburn-like irritation caused by radiation treatment. Mice that waded in baths of the bleach solution for half an hour a day, for ten days, experienced less severe skin damage than animals bathed in water. Their skin also healed better. Dr Leung and his team are now setting up clinical trials in humans. He points out that the effect on radiation burns could be significant, as cancer patients often have to take a break from radiotherapy to allow burns to heal. The bleach wash may also provide a future treatment for other inflammatory skin conditions, he says, including diabetic ulcers and bed sores. The researchers also looked at the effect of bleach baths on old, but healthy, mice. The baths increased skin cell production, resulting in thicker, younger looking skin. But you shouldn't expect bleach to turn up in your wrinkle cream just yet - the changes to skin were visible only when viewed through a microscope and the mice did not appear different to the naked eye. Meanwhile, British experts are not convinced by diluted bleach as a treatment for eczema, but are more positive about its use for wounds such as bed sores. When diluted to similar strength as a chlorinated swimming pool, bleach appeared to inhibit inflammation As Dr Graham Johnston, of the British Association of Dermatologists, explains: 'Americans have been using weak solutions of bleach in baths for eczema for years, but we do not recommend the use of them over here. Using strong disinfectants to treat large areas of skin with eczema is something I would not recommend because, as any eczema sufferer will tell you, this irritated, broken skin can be extremely sensitive and unpredictable. Margaret Cox, chief executive of the National Eczema Society, agrees. I would be concerned if people with eczema tried bleach baths without medical supervision. There is a particular issue with dosage. After all, the active ingredient is basically chlorine and this will dry out the skin. If used too often [a maximum of once or twice a week] or insufficiently diluted, the bleach could be very damaging to skin. Different products have different concentrations, so it is hard to be sure how much to use in a bath. However, Dr Johnston believes the treatment may be useful for conditions such as bed sores. The surrounding skin is often healthy, unlike patches of eczema, and so the application of weak concentrations of bleach may prove a more useful treatment and less likely to irritate skin. In day-to-day practice, we already use other antiseptics to eradicate bacteria in bed sores, usually in cream form, but the chemicals in these are much less harsh. Dr Leung, Dr Johnston and Margaret Cox all agree on one thing: no one should ever put undiluted bleach directly on their skin or self-medicate with weaker solutions. eczema.org