Lenzinger Berichte, 85 (2006) 61-67

DERMATOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS ON THE SKIN COMPATIBILITY OF TEXTILES MADE FROM TENCEL® FIBRES Thomas L. Diepgen a , K.Christian Schuster b a

University Hospital Heidelberg , 69115 Heidelberg, Germany b Lenzing AG, Textile Innovation, 4860 Lenzing, Austria

Based on a Lecture at the 43rd International Man-Made Fibres Congress, Dornbirn, Austria 15-17 September, 2004

Summary Background: Textiles play an important role in well-being, as the human body is in close contact with textiles most of the time. Especially, subjects with diseased or sensitive skin are able to feel small differences in well-being by using different textiles. It is well known that their skin is easily aggravated by contact with clothes of synthetic or woollen fibres. Objectives: To evaluate the skin compatibility of commercially available TENCEL® (generic fibre name: Lyocell) textiles in patients suffering from atopic dermatitis or psoriasis in an everyday situation. Methods: 30 patients with atopic dermatitis and 30 patients with psoriasis should wear and use TENCEL® textiles over the testing period of one week, during day and night. All textiles were commercially available products made from TENCEL®, produced through standard textile process routes, with no special additional treatment or finishing: 100% TENCEL® bedding (duvets, covers, bed linen, sheets), clothing from 70% TENCEL® / 30% Cotton (t-shirts, polo-shirts, pyjamas). As a control, patients used their own clothing and their own bedding textiles. All patients were evaluated by a dermatologist at baseline and 7 days after the initial examination. The overall severity of atopic eczema was evaluated using the SCORAD index, and the severity of psoriasis the PASI score, respectively. Results: During the test period the severity of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis improved significantly (p