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Urea Cream: Benefits and How to Use It

Urea has been used to treat skin conditions for over a century. But what exactly is urea?

Urea is a simple chemical compound with the formula CO(NH2)2, composed of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. It’s the end product of protein breakdown in the body. The liver converts nitrogenous waste into urea, which is then eliminated through the kidneys.

Industrial urea is used in a range of skin creams and ointments for skincare. It’s known as one of the best ways to combat severe dryness and other serious skin problems.

What is Urea Cream?

Urea is a natural waste product produced on the skin when the body breaks down proteins. It’s a component of the skin’s natural moisturising factor, which includes elements that maintain moisture balance in the outer layers.

Urea is manufactured for use in topical creams and skincare products. While our skin already contains urea, creams and gels containing this ingredient are made and used topically to soften dry and cracked skin.

Urea cream is a topical skincare product containing urea as a primary ingredient. It’s used to moisturise the skin and treat problems like severe dryness and cracking, especially because urea attracts water to the skin’s layers, helping to moisturise and increase skin elasticity.

Types of Urea Creams

Different concentrations of urea cream are available for topical use. Formulations containing urea are used based on the concentration to restore skin moisture.

Urea products are available both over the counter and with a prescription. They come labelled with the percentage of urea present in the formula. The most common types include:

  • Urea Cream 2: Ideal for moisturising dry areas of the skin.
  • Urea Cream 10: This concentration is the most common over-the-counter product and is used to alleviate severe dry skin or athlete’s foot. When using an over-the-counter product, it’s best to start with lower percentages of urea first to avoid adverse side effects.
  • Urea Cream 20: Also available over the counter, it’s used in skincare and body care products. It helps treat dry and rough skin conditions like eczema, and is beneficial for ingrown toenails, fighting inflammation, and healing wounds.
  • Urea Cream 40: This is the best urea cream for extremely dry, rough, or cracked skin, and it’s used to treat numerous skin conditions.

Urea 40 is often combined with medical compounds like topical anti-inflammatory steroids or antifungal medications to treat severe skin conditions.

Benefits of Urea

In skincare, urea is used in various products for skin hydration. Research indicates that urea cream is an effective topical treatment with a wide range of clinical applications, including:

  • Powerful Moisturiser

We naturally produce urea to promote skin hydration, so it makes sense to use it as a moisturiser for problem areas. When applied topically, it moisturises the area and enhances skin integrity. It also acts as a protective barrier.

Research suggests that low doses of urea-containing products, like those with 10% urea or less, act as skin moisturisers, while higher concentrations promote dead skin breakdown through their keratolytic effects.

  • Soothes Skin

Urea works as a moisturiser to soothe and soften the skin. It helps improve rough patches, flaking, and severe dryness.

Studies show that urea creams help soothe skin problems, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and dryness.

Products containing urea can also work as anti-wrinkle creams because they help moisturise and soften areas with skin problems.

  • Removes Rough Skin

Topical urea preparations have the ability to penetrate even thick, dry skin, breaking down the rough surfaces caused by dead skin cells.

Researchers have found that it exfoliates the outer layer of the skin, promoting smoothness, making it a good tool for cracked hands and feet, corns and calluses, dryness associated with psoriasis or eczema, and for softening thick, disfigured nails that need trimming. It does this by penetrating the nail and softening it.

  • Enhances Absorption

Urea works as a humectant. Humectants have been shown to draw moisture from the air and the environment and transfer it to the skin, helping to hydrate the skin and reduce severe dryness.

Humectants are often used in skincare products, from lotions and creams to soaps and shampoos, to draw moisture from the second layer of skin to the surface, increasing the overall moisture levels in the skin layers.

  • Combating Infection

Urea has been proven to have antifungal effects. For this reason, it is often used topically to combat athlete’s foot and nail fungus. It has also been proven to offer antimicrobial defence.

A study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology found that topical urea applications act as a barrier on the skin, helping to protect the skin from microbes.

How to Use Urea

When using urea cream, it’s best to start with a lower concentration, like urea 5 or urea 10. This allows you to see how your skin reacts. You can increase the concentration if you don’t notice results and don’t experience any side effects.

Use it like any other moisturising ointment or lotion. Apply a thick layer to the affected areas twice a day, morning and evening, or as directed by your doctor.

If you don’t notice results from the low concentrations available over the counter, consult your doctor about a prescription or safe ways to use the higher dosage creams available in stores.

Risks and Side Effects

Using a high-concentration urea product can cause side effects such as irritation, burning, and itching. In rare cases, urea 40 can break down skin cells. Stop using it if this happens.

Do not use urea near your eyes, nose, or mouth as it may cause irritation. It should also not be applied to open wounds or cuts.

If you experience any serious side effects, consult your doctor immediately.

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