Important Details About Eczema Medication: Read This Carefully
05/9/2009 - Wellness and Diet - 43 Views
If you are considering taking prescription eczema medication you would probably want to know more about the medicine that you are going to be taking as well as the rational behind the prescription. There are many that are partial to a more natural approach to treating eczema for fear of potential unwanted side effects from prescription medicine. In spite of this, prescription eczema medication is very effective in managing this skin ailment. What you need to know about the topical and systemic treatment of eczema will be briefly discussed in the following paragraphs.
The usual starting point for treating eczema with prescription medication is with topical applications. These may contain corticosteroids, antihistamines and these days the revolutionary new immunomodulators. The corticosteroids are used for their effective anti-inflammatory action and the way they effectively relieve the itch.
There are quite a few different corticosteroids with different potencies formulated into topical preparations and it is important to match the potency of the preparation with the severity of the eczema. Treatment should be started off with the weaker corticosteroids and then adjusting the potency until the needed relief is attained. Once the inflammation and itch has been relieved, the application of corticosteroids should be stopped and replaced with a moisturiser of some kind. Prolonged use of corticosteroids is not a desirable.
When your eczema is too severe for topical treatment to bring relief, your doctor might opt for a more aggressive approach with systemic (taken orally or injected) corticosteroids. As with the topical applications, you should try to achieve the desired effect with a dosage as low as possible in as short a period as possible. It is important to decrease the dosage gradually until finally stopping the use of corticosteroids to avoid adrenal atrophy (less natural corticosteroid secreted by your adrenal cortex).
The most common side effects resulting from long term use include Cushing's syndrome (moon face, fat collection around the mid riff, hair on the upper lip, stretch marks, acne), thinning of the skin, easy bruising, slow wound healing and growth retardation in children. Depending on the health of the individual, the list of side effects can get longer.
Antihistamines are use mainly for their anti-itch activity and the treatment of allergic reactions that often predispose an eczema flare-up. Antihistamines are used in cream, ointment or tablet form. One advantage of antihistamines is that they can be used for very long periods of time, just about indefinitely. The main disadvantage is the common side effect of drowsiness, but with the arrival of new generation antihistamines this can be avoided.
Immunomodulators are the latest development in modern eczema treatment and are only availably in topical applications. They suppress the inflammatory response of the immune system very effectively at the site of application. Their great advantage is that they don't have the side effects of the corticosteroids. The only draw back is the cost; they are more expensive than many of the corticosteroids.
Some more old school treatment for eczema is creams or ointments containing coal tar. They are usually freshly prepared by a pharmacist and may contain other ingredients like salicylic acid and sulphor. Coal tar has antipruritic activity and is also mildly anti-inflammatory.
Eczema medication should be individualised to match the severity and the needs of the patient. In some cases where the lesions are open and weeping, the possibility of bacterial infection becomes real and your doctor might prescribe antibiotics to either prevent or treat an infection. Consult with your pharmacist for more in depth information about eczema medication and importantly, find out what interactions there might occur between your eczema medication and your chronic medication or conditions you might have.
