Using therapeutic ultrasound to promote irritated skin recovery after surfactant-induced barrier disruption

Abstract Background Surfactant-induced skin barrier disruption can enhance blood flow and water content in the superficial skin. The effect of therapeutic ultrasound on accelerating the recovery of superficial skin after skin barrier disruption has seldom been studied. Objective To understand the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on barrier recovery, we used the sodium lauryl sulfate irritation model and treatment with ultrasound intervention. Methods The study allocated 30 healthy subjects into an ultrasound group (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15), each divided into three subgroups (sodium lauryl sulfate at concentrations of 1.0%, 0.5%, and 0%). Pulsed ultrasound (1 MHz, 0.3 W/cm 2 SATA ) was applied to ultrasound subgroups. The treatment effect was evaluated by the recovery rate of enhanced blood flow and water content. Results The results indicated a surfactant dose-dependent effect on blood flow, but not on water content. The recovery rates of enhanced blood flow were higher in the 0.5% and 1.0% ultrasound subgroups than in the control subgroups throughout the experiment. However, recovery rates of water content were higher in the ultrasound subgroups than in the control subgroups only on Day2. Conclusions Pulsed ultrasound accelerated the barrier recovery by reducing the enhanced blood flow and water content after skin barrier disruption.