Colloidal Oatmeal for Eczema and Itchy Skin

Table of Contents

1. What Colloidal Oatmeal Is and How It Is Made
2. Avenanthramides and the Skin Barrier in Plain Words
3. What the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Rule States
4. Trials of Oat Creams in Eczema
5. How Oat Compares With Steroid Creams
6. Trials in Dry, Itchy Skin
7. Oat Sensitization in Children With Eczema
8. Home Oat Baths as Reported Practice
9. Who Ran and Paid for These Studies
10. What Is Not Known
11. Key Research Papers
12. Connections
13. Featured Videos

What Colloidal Oatmeal Is and How It Is Made

A colloid is a mixture in which tiny particles stay suspended in a liquid rather than settling out. Oats have been put on irritated skin for a long time. A 2007 history from a skin-care company's scientific staff says oatmeal has been used for centuries against itch and irritation, and that a ready-to-use colloidal oatmeal became available in 1945, made by finely grinding the oat and boiling it to extract the colloidal material. The same paper notes that its preparation is standardized by the United States Pharmacopeia, and that it now comes as bath powders, shampoos, shaving gels and moisturizing creams.

Medical journals took an early interest. Grais wrote on colloidal oatmeal in the skin care of older people in 1953, Sompayrac and Ross wrote on atopic dermatitis in the young in 1959, and a 1970 case report in a physical therapy journal is titled "Total oatmeal immersion". The PubMed records for these three carry titles only, with no abstract, so this page reports that they exist and nothing about their results.

The 2007 history credits different parts of the oat with different jobs:

• Starches and beta-glucan are credited with the protective, water-holding function.
• Phenols, a family of plant compounds that includes the avenanthramides, are credited with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, and some of them absorb ultraviolet light strongly.
• Saponins are credited with the mild cleansing action.

Not every oat skin product is colloidal oatmeal, and this matters when reading the trials. A second family of products uses an extract from the leafy parts of young oat plants, called plantlets. A 2018 paper with an author from the maker describes that extract as unrelated to oatmeal proteins and virtually free of oat protein, with high levels of compounds such as flavonoids and saponins. Several of the studies below tested plantlet or other oat extracts, and this page says so each time.

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Avenanthramides and the Skin Barrier in Plain Words

The outer layer of skin holds water in and keeps irritants out. In eczema that barrier leaks. A leaky barrier shows up in the laboratory as more transepidermal water loss, which is simply water escaping through the skin, and one trial paper below describes eczema skin as short of ceramides, the fats that help seal the barrier, and of cathelicidins, the skin's own germ-fighting proteins. The Eczema page explains the itch and scratch cycle that follows.

Research on how oat might act has three layers, and they are not equally strong.

In cells and in mice

Avenanthramides are compounds found in oats, and the Avenanthramides page covers their discovery and chemistry. In a 2008 study by skin-care company researchers, avenanthramides at concentrations as low as 1 part per billion reduced an inflammation signal, nuclear factor kappa B, in human skin cells in a dish. In the same paper, avenanthramides at 1 to 3 parts per million on the skin lessened inflammation in mice and reduced scratching in a mouse itch model. A 2015 paper found that extracts of colloidal oatmeal lowered inflammatory signaling molecules in laboratory tests. A 2016 paper found that the extracts switched on genes tied to skin cell maturation, the seals between cells and fat handling in laboratory tests, buffered acidity, and helped recovery of barrier damage in a laboratory model of atopic dermatitis. A 2014 review from the field repeats the mouse findings and discusses studies of colloidal oatmeal as a treatment and as an add-on in eczema.

On skin bacteria

Healthy skin carries its own bacteria, and eczema skin often carries too many of the Staphylococcus type. In a 2021 laboratory study, colloidal oat in a dish raised the growth rate of Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common harmless skin resident, compared with Staphylococcus aureus, and raised lactic acid production. The same paper reports that a 1% colloidal oat lotion used for 6 weeks raised lactic acid on dry human skin. In people with eczema, a 2020 randomized study found only trends toward less Staphylococcus and more bacterial diversity at the patches.

In people, measured on the skin

Barrier measurements in people are mixed but mostly favorable. In a single-arm study of 30 people with eczema, water loss fell and hydration rose over 14 days. In the 2020 randomized study of 61 people who finished, a 1% colloidal oat cream improved skin acidity, barrier function and hydration from the start, while a standard moisturizer improved hydration. In a crossover study of 30 older adults using a plantlet oat emollient, dryness and hydration improved but water loss did not significantly change.

No trial found for this page isolated avenanthramides in a cream and tested them alone in people with eczema, so how much of the effect in people belongs to them, to the starches and beta-glucan, or simply to moisturizing remains an open question. Eating oats is a separate matter. A 2021 review of 23 randomized trials found no significant change overall in four blood markers of inflammation after eating oats, with small drops in two subgroups, and called the overall evidence poor. None of this tells us about the skin of people who eat oats.

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What the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Rule States

In June 2003 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its final over-the-counter monograph for skin protectant products. A monograph is a rule that lists which ingredients may be sold without an individual drug approval and what the label may say. It is not a study and does not report trial results. The current wording sits in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 347. It states:

• Strength. Section 347.10(f) lists "Colloidal oatmeal, 0.007 percent minimum; 0.003 percent minimum in combination with mineral oil".
• What the label may claim. Section 347.50 gives the wording "temporarily protects and helps relieve minor skin irritation and itching due to", followed by one or more of rashes, eczema, poison ivy, oak or sumac, and insect bites.
• Label warnings. The same section requires "do not get into eyes" and "Stop use and ask a doctor if" the "condition worsens" or "symptoms last more than 7 days or clear up and occur again within a few days".
• Soaks. For tub use the label carries "to avoid slipping, use mat in tub or shower", and for soaks and compresses it carries "in some skin conditions, soaking too long may overdry".
• Bath directions. The maker must give directions that reach at least 0.007 percent in a tub, sitz or infant bath (0.003 percent in the form with oil) and at least 0.25 percent in a foot bath or compress. The stated soak is 15 to 30 minutes as needed, then "pat dry (do not rub) to keep a thin layer on the skin".

The wording is about temporary relief of minor irritation and itching. It does not say that colloidal oatmeal treats, controls or cures eczema. A 2020 review, two of whose authors worked for a moisturizer maker, puts it more broadly, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires any moisturizer claiming to treat atopic dermatitis to contain colloidal oatmeal. The regulation's own text above is the primary source. The strengths also differ: the rule's minimum is 0.007 percent, while the cream trials below tested 1 percent.

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Trials of Oat Creams in Eczema

Atopic dermatitis is the most common form of eczema. Most oat trials enrolled mild to moderate cases, used a score such as the Eczema Area and Severity Index, and ran for weeks rather than months.

Studies with no comparison group

• Lisante and colleagues, 2017, two studies. A 1% colloidal oatmeal cream for 14 days in 29 people (ages 8 to 67) and 30 people (ages 10 to 80). In the first study, by day 14 an improvement of at least 20% over baseline was seen in 82.8% on the Eczema Area and Severity Index, 62.1% on the doctor's global score and 85.7% on itch. Itch and severity also improved in the second. One person reported 2 adverse events. With no untreated group, these numbers cannot separate the cream from the natural ups and downs of eczema.
• Kosmoski and colleagues, 2025. Children aged 3 to 72 months used a 1% colloidal oatmeal cream twice daily plus a gentle baby wash at least 3 times a week for 4 weeks, open-label. Of 31 enrolled, 29 finished. Severity, quality of life and itch improved from baseline at all visits. Two adverse events, a papular rash and contact dermatitis, led to stopping.
• Mack and colleagues, 2026. A colloidal oat baby wash in 29 babies aged 3 to 36 months judged prone to eczema by an in-house questionnaire, not diagnosed with it, and 24 finished. The overall skin condition score did not change significantly, going from 0.54 at the start to 0.33 and 0.29. Dryness, redness, rash, roughness and parent-rated itch did improve significantly at week 4. All 24 babies were White, and there was no comparison group.

Studies against another cream

• Lisante and colleagues, 2017, children. A double-blind trial of 90 children aged 6 months to 18 years, 45 per group, compared an over-the-counter 1% colloidal oatmeal cream with a prescription barrier cream for 3 weeks. By the test the authors set in advance, the oat cream was non-inferior, meaning any shortfall stayed inside a margin of 1.5 points on the Eczema Area and Severity Index (adjusted mean change 0.18, 95% confidence interval -0.35 to 0.70). Itch improved in both groups and no safety issues were identified. The comparison cream was not a steroid, and there was no group without cream.
• Lisante and colleagues, 2023, a subgroup. Among 49 Black or African American children aged 2 to 15 from that same comparison, severity scores fell by 2.4 with the oat cream and 2.1 with the ceramide-based prescription barrier cream at week 3.
• Capone and colleagues, 2020. Of 61 people who finished this randomized study, 30 used a 1% colloidal oat cream and 31 a standard unscented moisturizer for 14 days. The oat cream cut mean scores on two severity indexes by 51% and 54%. The abstract does not give the matching figures for the plain moisturizer, so it does not show how far apart the two groups ended.

The Cochrane review

The independent Cochrane review of moisturizers for eczema (2017; 77 studies, 6,603 participants, search to December 2015, so before the Lisante trials) pooled four studies of oat-containing moisturizers against no treatment or a plain base. Its findings, all rated low or very low quality:

• No significant difference in eczema severity as judged by participants (one study, 50 people, risk ratio 1.11, 95% confidence interval 0.84 to 1.46).
• No significant difference in satisfaction (one study, 50 people, risk ratio 1.06, 0.74 to 1.52).
• No significant difference in severity as judged by investigators (three studies, 272 people, standardized mean difference -0.23, -0.66 to 0.21).
• Fewer flares (one study, 43 people, risk ratio 0.31, 0.12 to 0.7).
• Less steroid cream used (two studies, 222 people, about 9.3 grams less).
• More adverse events in the oat group (one study, 173 people, Peto odds ratio 7.26, 1.76 to 29.92).

Across all kinds, moisturizers were linked to lower severity and fewer flares than no moisturizer. The authors concluded: "We did not find reliable evidence that one moisturiser is better than another."

A 2012 review of studies in people aged 3 months to 60 years describes improvement from baseline in severity, itch, dryness and quality of life with daily colloidal oatmeal products, with patients allowed to continue their prescribed medicines. Improvement from baseline, while also on prescribed treatment, does not show what the oat added.

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How Oat Compares With Steroid Creams

Accounts of these products sometimes describe colloidal oatmeal as matching mid-strength steroid creams. The searches behind this page, run through PubMed records in November 2026, found no randomized trial that placed colloidal oatmeal directly against a steroid cream in eczema. A trial these searches missed remains possible. What the published abstracts test is a different question, whether oat products added to or following steroid cream change how much steroid is used or how long control lasts.

• Infants, added to steroid cream (Grimalt and colleagues, 2007). 173 infants under 12 months with moderate to severe eczema, all on moderate- or high-potency steroid cream, randomly received an emollient containing oat extracts or no emollient for 6 weeks. Measured by weighing the tubes, use of high-potency steroid fell 42% compared with the control group (p < 0.05), while the 7.5% drop in moderate-potency steroid was not significant. Severity and quality of life improved significantly in both groups. The tested product was an oat extract, as the abstract describes it, rather than colloidal oatmeal by name.
• Children, after steroid cream (Mengeaud and colleagues, 2015). 108 children aged 6 months to 6 years used a medium-potency steroid for 14 days, then a sterile oat-plantlet cream twice daily for 3 months, with steroid only for flares. Severity scores changed by 48.6% (with a spread of plus or minus 73.6), and flares and steroid use fell significantly. This was open-label with no comparison group, a limit the authors acknowledge.
• Hand eczema, after steroid ointment (Sobhan and colleagues, 2020). 79 people with chronic irritant hand eczema were randomly assigned. All used fluocinolone 0.025% ointment for 2 weeks along with either a 1% colloidal oatmeal cream or a base cream, and then that cream alone for 4 more weeks. 50 finished. The two groups were similar at week 2. After that, symptoms came back significantly in the base cream group but not in the oat group (p < 0.001), and quality of life was better with oat. The authors report no conflicts. Nearly 4 in 10 did not finish, and hand eczema of this kind is a different condition from atopic dermatitis.

Some review authors see a steroid-sparing role. A 2010 review says oat formulations "may allow for reduced use of corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors", and a 2014 review groups colloidal oatmeal with petrolatum and prescription barrier creams as options that can limit long-term continuous steroid use. These are the authors' readings. The 2014 review also states that steroid creams carry a risk of skin thinning with long-term use, and calls them appropriate treatments during flares.

For scale, a 2024 Cochrane network review of anti-inflammatory creams and ointments for eczema covered 291 studies and 45,846 people, with steroid creams listed for 172, and potent steroids ranked among the most effective on symptoms (odds ratio 5.99, 95% confidence interval 2.83 to 12.69, low confidence). That review left out moisturizers used alone and complementary therapies, so it does not rate oat at all. It does show how much larger the evidence for steroids is than the evidence for oat creams. The authors also found most of those trials were industry-funded or did not report funding, and high risk of bias in 89.0%.

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Trials in Dry, Itchy Skin

• Against its own base (Kalaaji and Wallo, 2014). A randomized, double-blind study compared a colloidal oatmeal lotion with the same lotion minus the oat, and reports significant benefits on several dryness measures. The abstract gives no numbers. Studies like this are useful because they try to separate the oat from the moisturizer around it.
• Women with dry legs (Reynertson and colleagues, 2015). 29 healthy women with mild to moderate itch and moderate to severe dry skin on the lower legs used a colloidal oatmeal lotion in an investigator-blind study, with significant improvement in dryness, scaling, roughness and itch intensity.
• Women with dry legs (Ilnytska and colleagues, 2016). 50 healthy women with moderate to severe dry lower legs used the lotion, with significant improvement in dryness, moisturization and barrier.
• Older adults with chronic itch (Theunis and colleagues, 2017). In a randomized open-label crossover, 30 adults aged 60 or older had 2 weeks on a plantlet oat emollient and 2 weeks on nothing. Itch improved significantly more on the emollient (p < 0.0001). More than half reported improvement and 30% said the itch disappeared completely. Water loss through the skin did not significantly change. With no blinding and nothing to compare but no treatment, itch scores are open to expectation.
• Against a natural-ingredient cream (Gunt and colleagues, 2018). 32 people with very dry legs used a natural-ingredient cream on one leg and a colloidal oatmeal cream on the other for three weeks. Both improved hydration, barrier and roughness, and the authors call the benefits comparable. The study's stated aim was to show the other cream's effectiveness, with the oat product as benchmark.
• Against a yeast extract (Dhurat and colleagues, 2021). A randomized double-blind study of 60 people from a group developing a yeast extract found its lotion reduced itch significantly more than a colloidal oatmeal product (p = 0.0001), reporting relief in as little as one minute.
• Prevention of irritation (Vié and colleagues, 2002). On the arms of 12 healthy people, 20% oat extracts applied before a harsh detergent patch reduced redness and blood flow compared with the base alone. This was an artificial irritation model at far higher strength than a 1% cream, not treatment of a skin disease.
• Skin reactions to cancer drugs (Ke and Kuo, 2017). 30 people in Taiwan with rashes from epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors used a colloidal oatmeal lotion 3 to 5 times a day for 4 weeks. Severity, affected area and itch improved against their own starting points (P < .05), with no comparison group. A 2008 letter describes a similar use for erlotinib itch; its record has no abstract. The Avenanthramides page covers the guideline mention for these rashes.

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Oat Sensitization in Children With Eczema

Sensitization means the immune system has learned to recognize something, which shows as a positive skin test. It is not the same as having symptoms. The central study came from a pediatric skin unit in Bordeaux, France.

Boussault and colleagues, 2007. The team tested 302 children with atopic dermatitis who had been referred for allergy testing between June 2001 and December 2004, and so are not a sample of all children with eczema. They reported:

• 14.6% had a positive oat patch test, a test for slow skin reactions, and 19.2% a positive skin-prick test, a test for fast reactions.
• Children under 2 years old were more likely to have a positive patch test.
• 32% of oat cream users had a positive patch test, against 0% of non-users.
• Among sensitized children tested further, 15.6% (5 of 32) reacted when given oat by mouth under supervision, and 28% (7 of 25) reacted to repeated application on the skin.

The authors wrote that the finding may be the result of repeated applications of oat cosmetics on a predisposed, impaired skin barrier, and concluded: "We suggest avoiding topical-containing oat proteins in infants with [atopic dermatitis]." That is their published recommendation, and it is reported here as such. The design shows a link in a referred group. It cannot prove the cream caused the sensitization, and most sensitized children who were challenged did not react.

The reply and the counterevidence. A 2008 letter in the same journal is titled "Do we have to recommend not using oat-containing emollients in children with atopic dermatitis?" Its record carries no abstract. Other findings point the other way, though with their own limits:

• An open pilot of 12 adults with eczema and known cereal sensitization found no allergic reaction to repeated, maximized use of plantlet oat products. It was small, enrolled adults, and used a plantlet extract rather than oatmeal.
• A 2012 series from a skin-care company's staff found low-level reactions in 1.0% of people during repeat patch testing and one persistent doubtful reaction among 2,291 people, and reports no allergies among buyers of 445,820 products over 3 years. Complaints reaching a company are likely to undercount reactions.
• A 2025 review says concerns about oat sensitization "remain unsubstantiated in most studies" and calls colloidal oat emollients well tolerated in children. It is a literature review.

Case reports. PubMed also lists reports titled "Anaphylaxis to oats after cutaneous sensitization by oatmeal in skin products used for the treatment of atopic dermatitis" (2016), "Contact allergic dermatitis from oatmeal" (1988), "Allergic contact dermatitis due to avena extract" (2000) and "Allergic contact urticaria to oatmeal" (2002). These are single reports with no abstracts on record, so they show reactions can happen and say nothing about how often. Anaphylaxis is a whole-body allergic reaction. Trouble breathing, swelling of the throat or tongue and collapse are signs hospitals treat as urgent.

The Cochrane finding of more adverse events with oat moisturizers came from one study of 173 people, and the abstract does not say which events drove it. Sorting out how many infants become sensitized because of oat creams would take a prospective study that follows children from before they start using them, and none turned up in these searches.

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Home Oat Baths as Reported Practice

Home recipes describe grinding rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they make a fine powder that clouds water, then stirring about a cup into a lukewarm bath for 15 to 20 minutes. Others describe tying oats in a cloth and squeezing it in the bath water. People use these for eczema, sunburn, poison ivy, insect bites and chickenpox itch. This is a report of common practice and tradition, not a tested treatment.

What is on record:

• No trial of kitchen-ground oats. The searches for this page found no controlled trial of home-ground oat baths in eczema. The published studies tested manufactured products, and no study was found comparing kitchen-ground oats with material made to the United States Pharmacopeia standard.
• The labeling rule covers manufactured products. The bath directions quoted in the rule section, including the 15 to 30 minute soak, the tub mat warning and the note that soaking too long may overdry some skin, apply to labeled products. Whether a kitchen batch reaches the same concentration is not known.
• A bath additive null result in children. The independent BATHE trial (2018) randomized 483 children aged 1 to 11 across 96 general practices in Wales and England to emollient bath additives or no bath additives for 12 months, on top of standard care. There was no significant difference in eczema control over 16 weeks: the no-additive group scored 0.41 points higher (95% confidence interval -0.27 to 1.10) on a 28-point scale, below the 3 points thought to matter. The trial found no difference in later outcomes or costs. Its abstract is about emollient bath additives in general and does not name oat, so it is a close comparison rather than a direct test.
• Sensitization was not measured for baths. The Boussault study above compared oat cream users with non-users. It did not report on home baths, and whether oat in bath water sensitizes in the same way has not been measured.

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Who Ran and Paid for These Studies

Much of the positive evidence for oat creams comes from people connected to companies that sell them. This does not make the results wrong, but it is part of how to read them.

• Authors listed as staff of a consumer skin-care company: the 2017 children's trial, the 2008 avenanthramide study, the 2007 history, the 2012 safety series and the 2021 bacteria study. The 2023 subgroup paper also lists company authors. Other trial papers share authors with this group but their PubMed records list no employers, including the 2017 single-arm studies, the 2015 and 2016 dry skin studies, the 2014 lotion trial and the 2020 bacteria and barrier study.
• A plantlet oat emollient company: staff of its research center appear on the 2015 children's study, on the 2017 older-adult itch study and, by shared author, on the 2007 infant steroid study. The pilot tolerance study of 2009 shares an author with the 2015 paper. The 2018 paper explaining the extract also has a company author.
• Grants: the 2026 baby wash study lists a company grant, and the 2025 cream and wash study shares authors with it.
• Competing products: the 2018 and 2021 comparisons above tested rival products against an oat benchmark, and the 2021 group was developing the yeast extract.
• Stated independent or no conflict: the BATHE trial reports public funding from the National Institute for Health Research only, the authors of the Iranian hand eczema trial report no conflicts, the authors of the 2017 Cochrane review reported nothing to declare, and the authors of the 2021 oat and inflammation review state no commercial relationships.

The 2017 Cochrane review, from an independent group, found no significant difference on its severity measures where it pooled oat trials against a plain base or no treatment.

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What Is Not Known

• Oat against steroid cream. No direct randomized trial in eczema was found. The steroid-sparing results come from oat extracts added to steroid care, not substituted for it.
• Oat against a plain moisturizer. Whether colloidal oatmeal adds anything beyond moisturizing is unsettled. The Cochrane review could not show that one moisturizer beats another, and the abstracts of newer trials do not settle it.
• The active part in people. Results from cells and mice point to avenanthramides, but no trial here tested them alone in people with eczema.
• Severe eczema. Nearly all the trials enrolled mild to moderate cases. The infant steroid study enrolled moderate to severe cases, always alongside steroid cream.
• Long-term results. The oat trials here ran from 14 days to 3 months. Longer effects on flares and skin are unknown.
• Infant sensitization. Whether oat creams cause oat allergy in babies with broken skin remains disputed. No prospective trial was found. A 2025 review raises the idea that oat emollients might lower eczema and allergy risk, and that also lacks settled trial evidence.
• Home baths. Their concentration, benefit and allergy effect are all unmeasured.

Decisions about eczema treatment, including steroid creams and products for infants, belong with a clinician who can see the skin.

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Key Research Papers

1. Kurtz ES, Wallo W. Colloidal oatmeal: history, chemistry and clinical properties. J Drugs Dermatol. 2007;6(2):167-70. PubMed PMID: 17373175
2. Grais ML. Role of colloidal oatmeal in dermatologic treatment of the aged. AMA Arch Derm Syphilol. 1953;68(4):402-7. PubMed PMID: 13091378
3. Sompayrac LM, Ross C. Colloidal oatmeal in atopic dermatitis of the young. J Fla Med Assoc. 1959;45(12):1411-2. PubMed PMID: 13654685
4. Dunevitz B. Total oatmeal immersion. Phys Ther. 1970;50(2):193-4. PubMed PMID: 5414666
5. Wollenberg A, Fölster-Holst R, Saint Aroman M, Sampogna F, Vestergaard C. Effects of a protein-free oat plantlet extract on microinflammation and skin barrier function in atopic dermatitis patients. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2018;32 Suppl 1:1-15. PubMed PMID: 29533490
6. Sur R, Nigam A, Grote D, Liebel F, Southall MD. Avenanthramides, polyphenols from oats, exhibit anti-inflammatory and anti-itch activity. Arch Dermatol Res. 2008;300(10):569-74. PubMed PMID: 18461339
7. Fowler JF Jr. Colloidal oatmeal formulations and the treatment of atopic dermatitis. J Drugs Dermatol. 2014;13(10):1180-3. PubMed PMID: 25607551
8. Reynertson KA, Garay M, Nebus J, Chon S, Kaur S, Mahmood K, Kizoulis M, Southall MD. Anti-inflammatory activities of colloidal oatmeal (Avena sativa) contribute to the effectiveness of oats in treatment of itch associated with dry, irritated skin. J Drugs Dermatol. 2015;14(1):43-8. PubMed PMID: 25607907
9. Ilnytska O, Kaur S, Chon S, Reynertson KA, Nebus J, Garay M, Mahmood K, Southall MD. Colloidal Oatmeal (Avena Sativa) Improves Skin Barrier Through Multi-Therapy Activity. J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(6):684-90. PubMed PMID: 27272074
10. Liu-Walsh F, Tierney NK, Hauschild J, Rush AK, Masucci J, Leo GC, Capone KA. Prebiotic Colloidal Oat Supports the Growth of Cutaneous Commensal Bacteria Including S. epidermidis and Enhances the Production of Lactic Acid. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2021;14:73-82. PubMed PMID: 33500646
11. Capone K, Kirchner F, Klein SL, Tierney NK. Effects of Colloidal Oatmeal Topical Atopic Dermatitis Cream on Skin Microbiome and Skin Barrier Properties. J Drugs Dermatol. 2020;19(5):524-531. PubMed PMID: 32484623
12. Kim SJ, Jung CW, Anh NH, Kim SW, Park S, Kwon SW, Lee SJ. Effects of Oats (Avena sativa L.) on Inflammation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Front Nutr. 2021;8:722866. PubMed PMID: 34513905
13. Hebert AA, Rippke F, Weber TM, Nicol NH. Efficacy of Nonprescription Moisturizers for Atopic Dermatitis: An Updated Review of Clinical Evidence. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2020;21(5):641-655. PubMed PMID: 32524381
14. Lisante TA, Nunez C, Zhang P, Mathes BM. A 1% Colloidal Oatmeal Cream Alone is Effective in Reducing Symptoms of Mild to Moderate Atopic Dermatitis: Results from Two Clinical Studies. J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):671-676. PubMed PMID: 28697218
15. Kosmoski G, Friscia D, Mack MC, Brooks LM, Cobb CW, Draelos ZD. 1% Colloidal Oatmeal Cream/Baby Wash Regimen Improved Atopic Dermatitis in Pediatric Patients From First Use. J Drugs Dermatol. 2025;24(10):979-987. PubMed PMID: 41037526
16. Mack MC, John G, Friscia D, Perna C, Bion D, Ailsworth M, Peddy K, Tierney NK. A colloidal oat-containing baby wash is gentle and effective for atopic-prone skin. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2026;48(1):30-39. PubMed PMID: 40709409
17. Lisante TA, Nuñez C, Zhang P. Efficacy and safety of an over-the-counter 1% colloidal oatmeal cream in the management of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis in children: a double-blind, randomized, active-controlled study. J Dermatolog Treat. 2017;28(7):659-667. PubMed PMID: 28366039
18. Lisante TA, Kizoulis M, Nuñez C, Hartman CL. A 1% colloidal oatmeal OTC cream is clinically effective for the management of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis in Black or African American children. J Dermatolog Treat. 2023;34(1):2241587. PubMed PMID: 37592879
19. van Zuuren EJ, Fedorowicz Z, Christensen R, Lavrijsen A, Arents BWM. Emollients and moisturisers for eczema. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;2(2):CD012119. PubMed PMID: 28166390
20. Fowler JF, Nebus J, Wallo W, Eichenfield LF. Colloidal oatmeal formulations as adjunct treatments in atopic dermatitis. J Drugs Dermatol. 2012;11(7):804-7. PubMed PMID: 22777219
21. Grimalt R, Mengeaud V, Cambazard F; Study Investigators' Group. The steroid-sparing effect of an emollient therapy in infants with atopic dermatitis: a randomized controlled study. Dermatology. 2007;214(1):61-7. PubMed PMID: 17191050
22. Mengeaud V, Phulpin C, Bacquey A, Boralevi F, Schmitt AM, Taieb A. An innovative oat-based sterile emollient cream in the maintenance therapy of childhood atopic dermatitis. Pediatr Dermatol. 2015;32(2):208-15. PubMed PMID: 25529232
23. Sobhan M, Hojati M, Vafaie SY, Ahmadimoghaddam D, Mohammadi Y, Mehrpooya M. The Efficacy of Colloidal Oatmeal Cream 1% as Add-on Therapy in the Management of Chronic Irritant Hand Eczema: A Double-Blind Study. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2020;13:241-251. PubMed PMID: 32273745
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1. Colloidal oatmeal and atopic dermatitis
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4. Avenanthramides and skin

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Connections

• Oats Benefits Deep Dive
• Oats
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• Eczema
• Eczema: History and Discovery
• Contact Dermatitis
• Itching (Pruritus)
• Chamomile for Skin Healing
• Manuka Honey for Skin Conditions and Acne

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