A mini guide to steroid creams

Steroid creams tend be the most effective and commonly used treatment for eczema sufferers. They come in a range of strengths from mildly potent up to very potent. Although this may not always be pointed out to you by your doctor, the level of potency is very important to know for your own safety. The potency level is normally mentioned on the label when you collect it from the pharmacy. The higher the potency the more damage the steroid cream can do to your skin, so its important to use them very sparingly and for the least possible time. Too much of a high potency cream could make you very unwell and could leave you with some side effects you would get from taking a steroid tablet.

Although steroid creams are not very effective for me at the moment I have a big range of them as you can see. In my personal experience I only get results if I use them on a mild flare, which stops its from getting to the point I'm in now, were nothing seems to work. I have hydrocortisone 0.1% (mildly potent) cream to use on my face and neck which was prescribed by a dermatologist as it is not recommended to use any steroid cream on your face at all. I tend to only use emollients on my face, as call me vain, I just don't want to risk doing any damage to my face!

When I first got a severe flare of eczema, my GP just used to constantly prescribe me Dermovate which is the strongest cream available. I would lather myself in the stuff and it did used to do the job. But as I've got further into my studies I've realised how dangerous that was! It's only meant to be used for 2 weeks max, and I was covering myself in it for months! Anyway, I ended up changing GPs as they refused to refer me and I haven't touched it since. I do think my skin paid for all that overuse of steroids as it's now paper thin and that type of damage can't be undone. One little scratch breaks me open.

Nowadays I use Elocon (moderately potent) after seeing a dermatologist and I use it a couple of times a week when I have mild flares and it usually keeps the eczema at bay. I occasionally use Fucibet, when I begin to notice that my eczema is infected as it contains an antibiotic.  Anyway, the way I apply steroids is to put them on about an hour before I put on my emollient. I'm no expert but it seems to be long enough for it to absorb and do the job.

There is a lot of controversy around steroid creams and Topical Steroid Withdrawal, which I'm going to discuss in another post. I do believe that it is a real condition from the overuse of steroids, but I think as long as your sensible with them, I wouldn't let it put you off using them - especially if you have moderate to severe eczema. Just try and do your own research into steroid creams and decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks.