Erythromycin ointment as a new generation of "net red magic medicine", most people have one at home, right?
Medicine is indeed a good medicine, and it is also very useful for treating abscesses or small burns.
But in the past two years, I don't know why, it has transformed itself on social media and has become a "panacea".
Whether it is a mosquito bite, a acne, a rotten mouth corner, a cracked foot skin, there are Internet celebrities who recommend that you wipe it, and even more outrageously, some people recommend using it as a lipstick...
(Source: Network)
These usages are certainly not true!
First of all, erythromycin is actually an antibiotic, although it can kill some sensitive strains, but long-term or irrational use, it is easy to cause strains to become resistant.
In other words, the more medicinal uses, the more bacteria will continue to evolve, they become more and more powerful, the more resistant they are, and the more useless the current drugs are.
Long-term application of erythromycin ointment, the skin will continue to accumulate drugs, especially children's skin is thin, blood circulation is rich, the skin absorbs the drug strongly, and it is easier to develop bacterial resistance. Once resistance develops, erythromycin becomes almost ineffective when a large amount of medication is really needed.
The abuse of antibiotics is actually a very serious problem, and the data shows that in 2019, China's erythromycin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae reached 95.6%[1], which is a rather shocking data.
The more resistant bacteria, the more difficult the treatment of anti-infection, if antibiotics are not controlled, seriously abused, not only one person with a certain drug is no longer effective, but we as a whole human being may not have drugs available.
Bacterial resistance is a threat to humanity as a whole, forcing us to spend a lot of manpower, money and time to develop new antimicrobial drugs, and the speed of research is far from catching up with the speed of drug resistance.
Curb bacterial resistance, starting with the rational use of erythromycin ointment.
Secondly, erythromycin ointment is not a panacea at all.
Erythromycin is mainly used for infections of susceptible bacteria and is not useful for diseases caused by non-bacterial infections or deep infections.
For example, infections caused by fungi or viruses, such as ringworm of hands and feet, tinea cephaloni, tinea femoritis, herpes and other diseases, with erythromycin ointment is of no use at all.
Many new mothers will use erythromycin ointment as a nipple cream or a child's eczema cream, and they also think the effect is particularly good. But what actually works is lanolin and petroleum jelly in the cream, which moisturize, seal and moisturize.
Therefore, it is better to use professional nipple cream and moisturizer, and the treatment effect will be better.
Others use erythromycin ointment as a miracle drug for acne (acne).
But in fact, when the symptoms of acne are mild and there is no concurrent infection, there is no need to use erythromycin ointment. Although topical antibiotics are theoretically applicable to superficial inflammatory acne lesions such as papules and pustules, doctors do not recommend it as the first choice for antibacterial drugs [2,3] because erythromycin ointment is easy to induce propionibacterium acnes resistance [2,3], nor is it recommended for use alone or for long periods of time, and it is recommended to be used in combination with benzoyl peroxide, topical tretinoins, or other drugs.
First of all, it is recommended that when you are unwell, consult a doctor first, and avoid self-evaluation; secondly, you must carefully read the drug instructions before taking the drug.
In general, in the case of rational use of erythromycin ointment, the symptoms of discomfort improve within 3 days and should be continued until the infection is completely controlled and then discontinued.
However, if after 3 days of use, the skin is red and swollen, and the symptoms of pus oozing still do not improve, and the drug should be stopped immediately and go to the hospital for treatment, and it is not recommended to continue to apply, because this is considered a long-term medication.
In addition, there are two types of erythromycin that you can buy in pharmacies, and do not mix them.
One is erythromycin ointment, which contains 1% of erythromycin. It is mainly used for purulent skin diseases (e.g., impetigo), burns with small or mild (I.° or superficial II.°), ulcerative surface infections, and acne vulgaris [4].
The other is erythromycin eye ointment, which is a little lower than the concentration of erythromycin ointment, with a erythromycin content of 0.5%. Mainly used for: trachoma, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, external infection of the eye [5].
Although the difference between the two is only one word, the difference is not small, and it cannot be used indiscriminately.
First of all, the content is different, the ointment concentration is 2 times that of the eye ointment, if the ointment is used for the local treatment of skin infections, the concentration of erythromycin can not play a bacteriostatic effect; secondly, the ointment is an ordinary preparation, the sterility is more relaxed, and the ointment is a sterile preparation, the national pharmacopoeia stipulates that the ophthalmic preparation shall not detect any bacteria [6], so the ointment can not replace the ointment administered by the eye, otherwise it may cause serious adverse reactions to the eyes.
Finally, to sum up, drugs are different from skin care products, do not buy blindly and try blindly, and do not follow the trend.
Review expert: Labor people | Chief Physician of the Department of Dermatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine
bibliography
[1] 2019 National Bacterial Resistance Monitoring General Report, National Bacterial Resistance Monitoring Network
[2] Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections, 2019, Dermatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association
[3] Chinese Acne Treatment Guidelines, 2019 Edition
[4] Instructions for erythromycin ointment
[5] Instructions for erythromycin eye ointment
[6] Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 2020 edition
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