An Italian company has come up with a tissue specially designed to give relief to those suffering from psoriasis. It is neither a cure nor a solution, but it does aim to improve the quality of life of all those who suffer from psoriasis but experience discomfort with traditional fibres.

The Lenzi Egisto Textile Industries Group has developed an innovative fibre called Tepso, a tissue born of research and the fruit of collaboration between the medical and textile worlds. The result is a full range of clothing and bedding made from a hyper-technological fibre that has been used until now to apply sutures in very high intensity surgery and ophthalmology. The tissue is therefore very smooth and cool to the touch, with a very compact structure compared with traditional fibres. These features mean that when it comes into contact with skin, the tissue can give an immediate feeling of relief, guaranteeing the low levels of friction and abrasion that are essential for skin damaged and irritated by psoriasis. Another particularly useful feature of the tissue is that it does not absorb liquids and oil, and has high breathability. Therefore, in cases where creams and ointments are applied to skin damaged by psoriasis, the new fibre will allow the skin to better absorb the active ingredients of the medication without their disappearance into the tissue. Extremely soft seams and labels are on the outside of the tissue. There are no special indications for washing but the company is currently also studying particularly delicate detergents that are less irritating than normal detergents.

The company has also diversified the supply of tissues depending on the product. They range from underwear (Skin Active) made with Tepso and elasticised fibre, to clothes designed as an effective defence of the skin to be worn under normal clothing (Skin Comfort line). Then there are Skin Protector clothes made with Tepso on the side that comes into contact with the skin and with fine combed cotton on the other side. Finally, there is the Skin Bed line of sheets and pillowcases in Tepso.

Tepso is the latest high-tech tissue developed by the Lenzi Egisto Group in over a century of activities through targeted and integrated production in its internal departments. The large number of patents and trademarks it has deposited indicate that its research and development department has achieved high levels of absolute excellence. The company has its roots in 1898, when Egisto Lenzi began activity as a trader of raw materials. A few years later, in Prato, he converted this activity into the production of textiles, creating the company’s first production unit. The company developed rapidly and in 1936 Lenzi moved to the manufacturing complex of Vaiano in a wider industrial area, where the company still has its head office and part of its production. The acquisition of manufacturing units in the area has enabled the Lenzi Group to become today a fully integrated production company able to cover the entire textile making cycle. The production of “unconventional" textiles began immediately after the war, but it is only in the last decade that major technological changes in the textile sector have permitted the consolidation of new business strategies.