Clay heals diaper rash more rapidly than calendula officinalis. - GreenMedInfo Summary

BACKGROUND: Diaper rash is one of the most common skin disorders of infancy and childhood. Some studies have shown that Shampoo-clay was effective to treat chronic dermatitis. Then, it is supposed that it may be effective in diaper rash; however, no published studies were found in this regard.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the effects of Shampoo-clay (S.C) and Calendula officinalis (C.O) to improve infantile diaper rash.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomized, double blind, parallel controlled, non-inferiority trial was conducted on 60 outpatient infants referred to health care centers or pediatric clinics in Khomein city and diagnosed with diaper rash. Patients were randomly assigned into two treatment groups including S.C group (n = 30) and C.O group (n = 30) by using one to one allocation ratio. The rate of complete recovery in three days was the primary outcome. Data was collected using a checklist and analyzed using t-test, Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests and risk ratio.

RESULTS: Totally, 93.3% of lesions in the S.C group healed in the first 6 hours, while this rate was 40% in C.O group (P<0.001). The healing ratio for improvement in the first 6 hours was 7 times more in the S.C group. In addition, 90% of infants in the SC group and 36.7% in the C.O group were improved completely in the first 3 days (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: S.C was effective to heal diaper rash, and also had faster effects compared to C.O.