Clinical scoring and biophysical evaluation of nasolabial skin barrier damage caused by rhinorrhea

Houben, Evi; Adam, Ralf; Hachem, Jean‐Pierre; Roseeuw, Diane; Rogiers, Vera; De Paepe, Kristien

Background: An acute viral cold is a very common illness and is characterized by sneezing and a runny nose. Because of rhinorrhea and frequent use of handkerchiefs, the skin around the nose feels uncomfortably dry and flaky. Objectives/Methods: To evaluate the nasolabial skin barrier impairment, 14 female volunteers with a common cold were recruited. Visually assessed clinical scoring and/or biophysical measurements – including transepidermal water loss, stratum corneum hydration, skin colour, squamometry, skin pH, and a skin surface lipid profile analysis – were carried out at the start of the cold, a second time when the severity of the cold symptoms was maximal, and finally when the volunteers felt healthy again and stopped using handkerchiefs. Results and Conclusions: Transepidermal water loss assessments showed significantly higher measurements on the maximum outcome of the nasal cold compared with the time‐point when the symptoms of the cold had disappeared. This was in accordance with skin colour chroma a* measurements and the visually assessed skin erythema and scaliness scores, indicating that the superficial nasolabial skin barrier was inferior at the maximum of a nasal cold in comparison with the skin condition when volunteers were fully recovered.