Bubble baths might be soothing soaks, but bubble showers could be the next thing in keeping the skin clean. An Osaka Metropolitan University-led medical research team found that ultrafine bubble showers might help prevent atopic dermatitis. The findings were published in Frontiers in Immunology.

Graduate School of Medicine student Ayaki Matsumoto and Associate Professor Hisayoshi Imanishi led the study into using ultrafine bubbles, often used to clean medical equipment, on mice with atopic dermatitis.

The scientists found that in mice with atopic dermatitis due to external factors, inflammation was markedly suppressed when the affected skin was showered with ultrafine bubbles, while normal showers also showed some positive results. Additionally, the ultrafine bubble showers improved the levels of proteins in the skin that act as a protective barrier.

For mice with atopic dermatitis caused by genetic factors, however, there were no significant differences even compared to mice who were not showered.

“The results of this study suggest that ultrafine bubble shower treatment might be a new treatment for allergen-induced atopic dermatitis for humans, but this study was conducted on mice and the shower treatment period was short, only a week or two,” stated graduate student Matsumoto.

“From now on,” Professor Imanishi added, “it will be necessary to conduct ultrafine bubble shower therapy for several months on human patients to examine the effects.”