ColdaMed® – gentle and long-lasting cooling for the skin

Millions of people suffer from chronic skin diseases such as neurodermatitis, psoriasis or hives, which cause acute itching attacks (pruritus). Those affected often scratch intensively, which puts a lot of stress on the skin and can lead to so-called problem skin in the long term. So, cooling is a tried and tested remedy to reduce itching. Unfortunately, an adequate cooling method is not always available right at the itching attack. This is where ColdaMed^® comes in.

The ColdaMed^® team has developed a versatile cooling spray with a gentle and long-lasting cooling effect up to 60 minutes. Like a kind of "snow from a can", it can be applied to the skin at any time and regardless of location, compared to cold compresses, cooling gels or cold water baths. Depending on the formulation and application system, the spray is applied as a cooling gel, foam or film to optimize the cooling effect for the specific application. Moisturizing and caring additives support the effect if required.

Atopic skin

ColdaMed^® also helps with itching, e.g. from the touch of jellyfish or nettles and from insect bites. Up to now, coordinated cosmetics with a cooling effect and active substances such as menthol, camphor or peppermint oil have been used for this purpose. However, the lotions and sprays irritate the skin in many cases and are therefore often not suitable for children. The cooling spray developed by the ColdaMed^® team performs without such ingredients and thus offers a skin-friendly, purely physically acting alternative.

Après-Soleil water-based products

Similarly, in the after-sun care area, the spray counteracts redness, irritation and itching due to its nourishing and long-lasting cooling properties. The application soothes the skin while the water-based formula ensures adequate hydration.

Strained feet

Another area of application is swollen and aching feet. Whether after long periods of standing, running, extensive sports or hot temperatures – the friction in the shoes and the increased blood circulation due to movement heat up the skin. ColdaMed^® spray applied as a cooling foam has a refreshing effect and relieves tension. Special ingredients can also be added here to regenerate the main barrier and keep the skin supple.

The cooling of the deeper skin layers is particularly decisive for the effect. ColdaMed^® achieves significantly longer cooling effects than classic cooling and cold sprays which may be led back to the used  pure propellants such as propane/butane or dimethyl ether. On the skin surface, ColdaMed^® cools gently at +15 °C, while some cold sprays reach temperatures of -25 °C and below. In extreme cases, this can harm skin tissue in form of e.g. cold burns.

The product uses water as a phase change material (PCM), just as it is used in energy storage, too. Essentially, it is an emulsion of water in a liquefied propellant gas (e.g. dimethyl ether). The water freezes during spraying preventing severe supercooling.

The desired long-lasting and harmless tempered cooling effect of up to 60 minutes is effected via the thawing process of the frozen water using the skin energy.

• Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM
• Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP
  (Immunology and Allergology IA)