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

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/cm2 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.