Learning About Filaggrin Deficiency With Atopic Eczema

I've spent years as a patient of the UK NHS dermatology being prescribed steroid creams, steroid pills, immunomodulators & all the different moisturiser creams, ointments, gels etc etc.

Also trying tons of different skincare products. I found one really good product from "dermalogica" but it was far too expensive at £40 for 120ml, one of the ingredients was hyaluronic acid (the active ingredient).

Learning more about the skin barrier

So this prompted me to start researching "barrier repair creams" where I ended up researching what makes up the skin barrier (stratum corneus) & how atopic eczema & a filaggrin deficiency (one of the effects of having AD) effects the stratum corneus. Filaggrin being a particular protein that binds the cement that holds the cell barrier together.

Four chemical components to look for

So as I dug deeper & deeper into scholarly articles of dermatological research I began to understand how cells produce the ingredients needed to create the bonds between cytokines (skin cells) to create the stratum corneus (the skin barrier).

I found that four particular chemical components kept popping up in the numerous articles 1) hyaluronic acid 2) collagen 3) elastin & 4) ceramides 3 & 6 all component chemicals the skin cells create to produce others like filaggrin, a protein only produced by skin cells. I have also researched the pharmaceutical use of these four ingredients in skincare products.

Not much help from my dermatologist

Discussing my findings with my NHS dermatologist was a complete waste of time as they just kept saying the NHS has no evidence to prove these ingredients help to repair the skin barrier (this is despite the evidence I provided them) their excuse being all these scholarly articles come from small studies & aren't significant.

Also, this was despite my recent use of products that use these ingredients which I trialled over 6 months with regular checkups by the dermatologist & there being a massive positive change in my skin.

Skincare products I'm using

So in conclusion the products I used where 1) hyaluronic acid gel (500ml £17.99) from an online company called Scienceboost.com, 2) collagen & elastin gel serum (500ml £17.99) from ultrasonicbeauty.com & 3) Aloe vera gel from bleu & marine Bretania (1ltr £20).

The aloe vera gel is designed to mix with oils (ie, coconut oil) but will also mix well with the scienceboost hyaluronic acid. My skincare regime is large teaspoon coconut oil in the bath then collagen & elastin gel serum immediately after bathing then using aloe vera/hyaluronic acid/coconut oil mix (ratio: 300ml Aloe vera gel - 150ml hyaluronic acid - 50ml coconut oil).

How do you select your skin care products?