The key difference between dimethicone and simethicone is that dimethicone is an important ingredient in the cosmetic industry, whereas simethicone is an oral antifoaming agent that is used to reduce bloating, discomfort, and pain caused by excessive gas in the gastrointestinal tract.
Dimethicone is a chemically and physically inert ingredient in cosmetics in very low concentration. Simethicone is an antifoaming agent that is useful to reduce bloating, discomfort, or pain that is caused by excessive gas.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Dimethicone
3. What is Simethicone
4. Dimethicone vs Simethicone in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Dimethicone vs Simethicone
What is Dimethicone?
Dimethicone is a chemically and physically inert ingredient in cosmetics in very low concentrations. It is slightly toxic to rats when it is administered orally or dermally in a single dose. Its chemical name is polymethylsiloxane. It belongs to a group of polymeric organosilicon compounds that are commonly known as silicones.
Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Polymethylsiloxane
Particularly, dimethicone is known for its unusual rheological properties. This substance is optically clear and generally inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable as well. The uses of dimethicone range from the manufacture of contact lenses and medical devices to elastomers. Moreover, we can find it in shampoos, some foods as an antifoaming agent, caulking, lubricants, and heat-resistant tiles.
Dimethicone is viscoelastic, which means at long flow times, it can act like a viscous liquid that is similar to honey. Moreover, its short flow times make it act like an elastic solid that is similar to rubber. Besides, it shows a low elastic modulus, which can enable it to be easily deformed, also resulting in the behavior of a rubber.
Applications of dimethicone can be found in surfactants and antifoaming agents, hydraulic fluids and related applications, soft lithography, stereolithography, medicine and cosmetics, condom lubricant, domestic and niche use, etc.
What is Simethicone?
Simethicone is an antifoaming agent that is useful to reduce bloating, discomfort, or pain that is caused by excessive gas. This compound has some medical uses where it is important to relieve the symptoms of excessive gas in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the effectiveness is not yet confirmed for the relieving of symptoms of functional dyspepsia and functional bloating.
Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Simethicone
Moreover, this substance has some use in the treatment of colic in babies though it is not recommended for this purpose. Also, it can be used for suspected postoperative abdominal discomfort in infants.
Besides, simethicone has no considerable serious side effects, but there are two uncommon side effects: nausea and constipation.
What is the Difference Between Dimethicone and Simethicone?
Dimethicone is a chemically and physically inert ingredient in cosmetics in very low concentrations. Simethicone is an antifoaming agent that is useful to reduce bloating, discomfort, or pain that is caused by excessive gas. The key difference between dimethicone and simethicone is that dimethicone is an important ingredient in the cosmetic industry, whereas simethicone is an oral antifoaming agent that is used to reduce bloating, discomfort, and pain caused by the excessive gas in the gastrointestinal tract. Besides, usually, simethicone is a mixture of silica gel and dimethicone, so it is sometimes known as activated dimethicone.
Below is a summary of the difference between dimethicone and simethicone in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Dimethicone vs Simethicone
The key difference between dimethicone and simethicone is that dimethicone is an important ingredient in the cosmetic industry, whereas simethicone is an oral antifoaming agent that is used to reduce bloating, discomfort, and pain caused by the excessive gas in the gastrointestinal tract. Dimethicone is a chemically and physically inert ingredient in cosmetics in a very low concentration. Simethicone is an antifoaming agent that is useful to reduce bloating, discomfort, or pain that is caused by excessive gas.
Reference:
1. “Simethicone.” NHS Choices, NHS.
Image Courtesy:
1. “PmdsStructure” By Smokefoot – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Simethicone structure” By Anypodetos – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia