Are topical steroids the most effective form of treatment for eczema?
If you rub a cream or ointment that contains a steroid (or corticosteroid) into your or your child's skin, there is a strong chance that it will ease the itching and inflammation caused by eczema. Steroid creams work for nearly everyone who uses them.
Steroids used to treat eczema are not the same as "anabolic steroids" that help build muscle. Anabolic steroids are usually given as injections, and they can cause very harmful side effects. The steroids used to treat eczema are very different.
The main ways topical steroids can help your or your child are by:
Sometimes the cells in your body that protect you from infection start to fight hard against certain everyday things. Those cells and the way they work are what make up your immune system. The things that make your immune system work too hard are called allergens. The result is an allergic reaction. If you have eczema, the reaction makes your skin inflamed, itchy and red. Topical steroids work by calming down the immune system and reducing this reaction.
About 1 in 10 people say that steroid cream burns, irritates, or stings when they first put it on their skin.
Using a strong topical steroid for a long time is more likely to give you side effects than using it for just a short time. How strong the medicine needs to be and how long you need to use it will depend on how severe your eczema is, where it is, and the side effects you might get.
You may have heard that steroid creams and lotions can make the skin get thin. But the research on this is not clear. Some studies show that if you use steroid creams for a very long time and at very high doses, your skin gets thinner. Other studies show that this doesn't happen.
If the skin gets too thin, it splits and scars easily. But it takes a long time for this to happen, and the skin returns to normal after the treatment is stopped.
Steroids used to treat eczema are not the same as "anabolic steroids" that help build muscle. Anabolic steroids are usually given as injections, and they can cause very harmful side effects. The steroids used to treat eczema are very different.
How can topical steroids help?
The main ways topical steroids can help your or your child are by:
- Making the skin less itchy, red and inflamed
- Helping you keep from scratching and damaging the skin
- Making the skin look better
- Reducing scaling and dry skin
- Reducing oozing and crusting.
Why should they work?
Sometimes the cells in your body that protect you from infection start to fight hard against certain everyday things. Those cells and the way they work are what make up your immune system. The things that make your immune system work too hard are called allergens. The result is an allergic reaction. If you have eczema, the reaction makes your skin inflamed, itchy and red. Topical steroids work by calming down the immune system and reducing this reaction.
Can they be harmful?
About 1 in 10 people say that steroid cream burns, irritates, or stings when they first put it on their skin.
Using a strong topical steroid for a long time is more likely to give you side effects than using it for just a short time. How strong the medicine needs to be and how long you need to use it will depend on how severe your eczema is, where it is, and the side effects you might get.
You may have heard that steroid creams and lotions can make the skin get thin. But the research on this is not clear. Some studies show that if you use steroid creams for a very long time and at very high doses, your skin gets thinner. Other studies show that this doesn't happen.
If the skin gets too thin, it splits and scars easily. But it takes a long time for this to happen, and the skin returns to normal after the treatment is stopped.
This site is for your information only. For medical advice, consult a health professional.
© BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2004.
