Barrier Cream

Have you ever gotten an itchy rash after touching something that’s normally harmless? That’s a key sign of contact dermatitis, a skin condition involving inflammation as a result of coming into contact with a particular substance. One of the most common irritants is nickel. Now there may be a solution, and it involves particles smaller than the width of human hairs. In a study published recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, Harvard researchers demonstrate that a cream containing nanoparticles of calcium carbonate may be able to protect a nickel-allergic person from having reactions to the metal.