Background
People living with Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare inherited life-long condition, experience repeated blistering and non-healing wounds. These individuals face a life in dressings and bandages as there is no cure. To manage these blisters and wounds, people living with EB frequently develop their own dressing and emollient regimes based on experience, which has led to a unique, varied and atypical use of dressings. Some techniques may be more effective than others, for example bulky dressings may have a negative impact on movement across joints, and some combinations may lead to heat and humidity increasing at the dressing/skin interface that increases the risk of blistering.
Within this study we will maximise the learning from the large variation of current dressing choices in people living with EB to determine the optimal levels of moisture, and the desirable components within dressings and dressing choice for people living with EB.
Novelty & Importance,
Understanding how to prevent and reduce blister formation rather than just responding to blistered skin could result in a step-change in the management of people living with EB. In this novel project you will study how the variation of current dressing choices affects the skin health, healing and blistering in people living with EB using longitudinal patient reported outcome measures. Learning from these responses will determine the dressing characteristics to manage skin health and promote blistering.
Aims & Objectives.
To determine optimum conditions that protect the skin from blistering and promote healing in people living with epidermolysis bullosa EB.