An Observational Study of the Application of a Topical Cannabinoid Gel on Sensitive Dry Skin

Jalal Maghfour, Hope R Rietcheck, Chandler W Rundle, Taylor M Runion, Zainab A Jafri, Sam Dercon, Peter Lio, Jon Fernandez, Mayumi Fujita, Robert P Dellavalle, Helena Yardley. J Drugs Dermatol. 2020 Dec 1;19(12):1204-1208.

Observational studyHumansTopical

Design

Observational study

Subjects

20 people with self-reported eczema enrolled; 16 completed

Dose used in the study

A topical cannabidiol (CBD) gel; palmitoylethanolamide was not given. Amount not stated

Duration

2 weeks

What was measured

Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) and the emotional domain of the Quality of Life Hand Eczema Questionnaire, by online questionnaire.

What the authors reported

The observational study found:

• Mean POEM fell from 16 to 8.25 at two weeks (P<0.0007), and the emotional QOLHEQ score from 20.9 to 8.375 (P<0.004).
• 67% reported less itch and 50% felt their eczema improved by more than 60%.
• The abstract mentions palmitoylethanolamide only as background, citing earlier reports of effect on itch, excoriation and redness in atopic dermatitis.

Limits of this study

This study tested topical CBD, not palmitoylethanolamide. It was small, uncontrolled, unblinded and based on self-report with 4 dropouts. Funding and conflicts not stated in the abstract.

Source

PubMed 33346512 · doi:10.36849/JDD.2020.5464

Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.