Clinical Observation Of External Application Of Licorice Moisturizing Ointment In The Treatment Of Chapped Hands And Feet

Rhagadia manus and pedalis,also known as Chapped hands and feet,Skin Chaps,Chapped Hands,Dry Heels,Cracked Feet,Heel Fissures,Pedal Fissures,is a common clinical keratotic skin disease.The disease usually occurs in autumn and winter.It is mainly manifested as the dry and thickened skin stratum corneum gradually appearing small cracks distributed along the dermatoglyph.Moreover,cracks grows deeper and deeper under the influence of temperature changes,mechanical friction,pressure or contact with chemical detergents.However,there are no other obvious symptoms in the early stage of the disease,apart from the appearance of the skin becoming rough and unaesthetic.Most patients do not pay much attention until the cracks aggravate with pain,bleeding and other manifestations,which bring distress and uncomfortableness to the patients' daily lives,also interfered with normal work and study.In addition,chapped hands and feet can also appear as clinical symptoms at the same time as other skin diseases,such as eczema,frostbite,ichthyosis,palmoplantar keratosis,etc.,which should be differentiated clinically.At present,common clinical drugs for treatment of rhagadia manus and pedalis include urea,salicylic acid,glucocorticoids,etc.,which mainly have the effects of emollients,keratolytics,healing and pain relief.Rhagadia manus and pedalis was well studied and recorded in traditional Chinese medicine,which describes the disease as mainly caused due to the unbalance of qi and blood,external cold,blood stasis and stagnation,and skin dystrophy.The dialectic is the syndrome of blood deficiency and wind dryness or spleen deficiency and blood dryness.The treatment can be using emollient externally in order to moisturize skin and heal the cracks,cooperate with oral administration to invigorate the spleen and qi,and nourish blood and moisturize dryness,such as Guipi Decoction and Angelica Decoction.The main observation object of this study is the Licorice Emollient Moisturizer,which is based on the elaboration of Licorice Oil and "Yi Shang San"(Sophora flavescens,Angelica dahurica,sulphur nitrate,alum,nepeta,cold water stone,Bletilla),combined with modern technology,presented in the form of cream,mainly has the effect of clearing heat and moisturizing dryness,relieving itching and cracking.OBJECTIVE:To preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of Licorice Emollient Moisturizer in the treatment of patients with rhagadia manus and pedalis through the establishment of a randomized controlled trial that is a prospective experimental study.METHODS:From December 2020 to April 2021,a total of 34 patients with rhagadia manus and pedalis diagnosed in Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited.They were divided into the experimental group and the control group according to the random number table for observation(not enough participants were recruited due to the pandemic of Covid-19,the actual number of completed cases is 29 people,14 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group).The experimental group was treated with Licorice Emollient Moisturizer,while the control group was treated with urea ointment.For more serious patients with degree ? and ?,they were treated with extra sealing and pruning.The treatment period is 14 days,with a total of 2 courses of treatment.If the subject is cured within 1 course of treatment,the observation will be terminated early.The experimental group and the control group were respectively evaluated and discussed the efficacy of the drug.RESULTS:After the end of the 2 observation periods,the significant rate in the experimental group and control group were 50.00%and 46.67%(P=1.000),respectively,and the total effective rate were 92.86%and 80%(P=0.598).There is no statistical difference between the two groups.During the experiment,there were no obvious adverse reactions in both groups of subjects.CONCLUSION:This study did not prove the overall curative effect of Licorice Emollient Moisturizer has shown a better performance than that of urea ointment yet,thus further study should be conducted in order to prove that it can be a better choice for clinical treatment of rhagadia manus and pedalis.PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS:In the future,the popularization of the disease should be strengthened,so that patients have a deeper understanding of it,pay more attention to treatment and skin care,in order to avoid hands and feet chaps due to skin dryness.