# Friction between human skin and incontinence pads in the presence of barrier protection products

## TL;DR

This study examines how different barrier creams and sprays affect friction between human skin and incontinence pads, finding that one cream significantly reduces friction and improves performance.

## Contribution

The study introduces new experimental insights into how barrier products influence skin-pad friction, particularly highlighting the superior performance of one specific cream.

## Key findings

- Barrier cream A (3M™ Cavilon™) significantly reduces both static and dynamic coefficients of friction compared to other treatments.
- Barrier spray C exhibits high static friction and significant stick-slip behavior, unlike the stable performance of Barrier cream A.
- All tested barrier products reduce directional differences in friction, suggesting lower shear loading on the skin.

## Abstract

Graphical abstract

This novel experimental work aims to bring further knowledge of frictional performance of common barrier products used in the treatment of incontinence-associated dermatitis and determine how the skin-pad interface changes when a treatment is applied to the skin. Key data is reported and there is an in-depth analysis into friction profiles which reveals great differences between how different skin-pad tribosystems operate when exposed to commercially available barrier treatments. In a wet-pad state Barrier cream A (3M™ Cavilon™ Barrier cream) reduced friction and had much lower dynamic and static coefficients of friction than the other barrier treatments (Barrier cream B (Sorbaderm Barrier cream) and the Barrier spray C (Sorbaderm Barrier spray)). Barrier cream A provided stable friction coefficients in reciprocating sliding, whereas the other treatments, and untreated skin, did not display this unique characteristic. The barrier spray gave rise to high static friction coefficients and exhibited the most stick-slip. All three candidate barrier protection products were found to reduce directional differences in the static coefficient of friction: indicative of reduced shear loading. Knowledge of the desirable frictional properties would drive innovation in product development, and benefit companies, clinicians and users.