Therapies and Side-Effects

All treatments carry risks as well as benefits. This section outlines the positive and negative aspects of various eczema therapies.

Keeping the skin moist:

Using emollients (medical moisturisers) and barrier creams may be sufficient to control some mild cases of eczema – available from your pharmacist, or on prescription from your doctor. More specific treatment is often needed in addition to emollients, as described below. For more information on emollients and total emollient therapy, see the website of the National Eczema Society.

Some emollients may leave your skin feeling greasy. You can experiment to find an emollient that suits you and your skin.

Steroid creams:

Steroid creams and ointments can calm itchy, swollen red skin. An ointment will feel more greasy than a cream, but it will also moisturise the skin better. Your doctor will give you the mildest steroid possible to avoid side-effects.

If not used properly, steroids can lead to permanent changes in the skin. the most common effect is thinning of the skin, sometimes resulting in stretch marks that may be permanent. Even mild corticosteroids should ideally not be used for a prolonged time in infants and children, or on areas of thin skin such as the face.

Antibiotics and antiseptics:

These may be needed if the skin becomes infected – this often happens because the skin becomes open and damaged, which makes it possible for viruses or bacteria to infect the skin.

If you use antibiotics too much, bacteria can become resistant to them so they are no longer effective.

New treatments:

There are many new medicines being developed, or recently introduced. For instance, topical immunomodulators are new drugs that are steriod-free. They can relieve itching, redness and swelling.

When first applied, some of these medicines may sting slightly, increase itching or make your skin sensitive to heat. After several applications, however, the discomfort usually fades.

Anti-itching medicines(antihistamines):

Your doctor may prescribe a medicine to help stop itching.

Some antihistamines may make you drowsy, or they can have the opposite effect and make you feel restless.

Wet-wrap bandaging:

Can be a useful treatment to relieve discomfort in cases of severe eczema. The technique should be demonstrated by a specialist nurse. For more information, see the website of the National Eczema Society.

Relatively time consuming and inconvenient.

For very severe eczema:

More powerful treatments for severe eczema are available from your consultant dermatologist, e.g. UV light treatment, stronger medication. These options are kept for those cases that are very hard to treat.

Potential side-effects mean these treatments are not used unless other treatments are ineffective.