Just for these 5 points, you should have Vaseline at home!

In winter, if there is anything more uncomfortable than the cold, it is the dryness! The face peels, the lips and heels are cracked, and in severe cases, when you take off your clothes, you will fall off layers of dandruff that looks like snow. Is there any way to make your skin hydrated? The answer is of course to replenish water. But the cold wind in winter can easily take away the moisture, so moisturizing is particularly important.

At this time, I really recommend that everyone keep some Vaseline at home in winter.

What is Vaseline?

Let’s start with the history of Vaseline.

The invention of Vaseline is attributed to chemist Robert Chesebrough, who was working in the oil fields of Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 when he noticed workers using a sticky substance called "rodwax" to treat open wounds. This substance was a byproduct of the oil drilling process and had great protective and healing properties.

Inspired by this, Chesebro began to study this substance. He produced a purer form through distillation and purification, and named it "petroleum jelly". The Chinese names "Vaseline" or "Vaseline" refer to it.

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Vaseline has very stable chemical properties and hardly reacts with other substances, making it suitable for long-term storage and not easy to deteriorate.

The vaseline products in my country mainly include ordinary vaseline, industrial vaseline and medical vaseline, especially medical vaseline.

Vaseline comes in two forms: white and yellow. White vaseline is purer, and impurities including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are removed during the refining process. Therefore, we see that many medical vaselines are also written as "medical white vaseline".

Pharmaceutical vaseline can be used to prepare ointments, skin protection creams and cosmetic raw materials. In addition, a large number of moisturizing and emollient products usually contain a small amount of vaseline.

Vaseline, you can use it like this

Although Vaseline is not a panacea, it does have a wide range of uses, covering skin care, home care and even medical fields.

Without further ado, we have sorted out the application scenarios of Vaseline in medicine (mainly skin)~

Vaseline is a closure agent with excellent moisturizing effect. Data shows that among all oil-based moisturizers, vaseline has the most significant effect in reducing epidermal water loss, reaching 98%, while most other products can only reduce 20% to 30%.

It is precisely because of this feature that it has become a "net celebrity" on foreign social media such as TikTok and Reddit. Specifically, it is popular on the Internet to apply thick layers of Vaseline before going to bed to maintain the skin. It is said that when you wake up the next day, your face will be full of luster and become super soft. They also gave this thick application a vivid name - "slugging". This name is given because Vaseline is thick and sticky, and feels like a slug.

However, it should be mentioned here that if the skin is normal, not dry, and not tight, there is no need to use Vaseline frequently for moisturizing. If it is just ordinary moisturizing, you can also choose other moisturizing creams, moisturizing lotions, and body lotions with better skin feel. Vaseline is not the only solution, and we don't need to deify it.

Does Vaseline cause cancer?

When surfing the Internet, you may occasionally see a rumor that Vaseline can cause cancer.

Let me clarify something here.

Vaseline itself does not contain any known carcinogens, and after numerous safety tests, it is generally considered harmless. In fact, the US FDA has officially approved it as a skin protectant.

Some people worry about carcinogenicity, probably because some unrefined petroleum jelly may contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are associated with cancer at high concentrations. Fortunately, most brands of petroleum jelly on the market have undergone a rigorous refining process, and the PAHs content is far below the level that is harmful to the human body. For example, the European Union limits the PAHs content to less than 0.005%, and Canadian petroleum jelly product tests show that the PAHs concentration is less than 0.00001%. The products produced by these regular manufacturers are reliable enough and can be used with confidence.

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So, does Vaseline have other side effects?

As the saying goes, "All medicines are poisonous", the subtext is that all medicines may have side effects. But this view is basically not applicable to Vaseline, because the safety of Vaseline is particularly high, far exceeding that of most medicines.

Specifically, it is basically non-irritating and non-allergenic, and is very gentle on the skin. It is like the inert gases in the periodic table. However, despite this, there are still a few small precautions, which I would like to share with you:

1. Vaseline is not suitable for very deep wounds or open wounds because it may cause the wound to become airtight.

2. The skin barrier of premature babies is very immature. If Vaseline is used frequently or in large quantities, the barrier may allow microorganisms to enter, leading to infection.

3. Some scholars worry that Vaseline may cause acne (but the objective evidence is not sufficient). To be on the safe side, avoid applying thick layers of Vaseline on areas where acne and pimples frequently occur.

4. Although petroleum jelly is not highly flammable (flammability rating is 0), it can act as an accelerant to fire when it is soaked into fabric or accumulated in large quantities.

References

[1]Petrolatum.https://www.paulaschoice.com/ingredient-dictionary/ingredient-petrolatum.html

[2] Chemical Dictionary. Vaseline. https://china.guidechem.com/15824/detail.html

[3]NCI.Petrolatum.https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/petrolatum

[4]KamraniP,HedrickJ,MarksJG,etal.Petroleumjelly:Acomprehensivereviewofitshistory,uses,andsafety.JAmAcadDermatol.2024;90(4):807-813.

[5]CzarnowickiT,MalajianD,KhattriS,etal.Petrolatum: Barrierrepairandantimicrobialresponsesunderlyingthis"inert"moisturizer.JAllergyClinImmunol.2016;137(4):1091-1102.e7.

[6]AAD.5waystousepetroleumjellyforskincare.https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-secrets/routine/petroleum-jelly

[7]Petrolatumiseffectiveasamoisturizer,buttherearemoreusesforit.https://cdn.mdedge.com/files/s3fs-public/CT110004175.pdf

[8]https://www.womenshealthmag.com/tw/beauty/skin/g35418319/what-is-slugging/

Planning and production

Author: Tang Jiaoqing, attending physician of dermatology department

Review | Feng Jun, Deputy Chief Physician, Dermatology Department, General Hospital of Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd.