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Everyone's home will be more or less equipped with a few such hormone ointments: piymple, xx pine, x Ned, xx Ned, etc., I guess you must have used at least one.
Nowadays many people talk about hormones discoloration, and it is true that there is a great risk of abusing or long-term use of hormones without their knowledge.
At the same time, many skin care products or elimination products with the name of "eczema cream" often secretly add super potent hormones, making people invincible, which was the case with the baby hormone cream incident that was all over the Internet last year.
But in fact, the standardized use of hormone drugs is not terrible, and topical hormones are also the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of skin diseases.
And glucocorticoids are currently the first-line external ointment of dermatology, which can play a variety of roles such as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-toxic, anti-shock, etc. Today I will tell you how to correctly select glucocorticoid ointment.
Start by understanding the strength grade of the drug
When choosing a topical corticosteroid drug, the first factor to consider is the strength of the drug. Choose the right strength of the drug, in order to achieve the desired treatment effect.
The classification method commonly used in dermatology for topical glucocorticoids is divided into four levels according to their intensity of action: super potency, strong effect, medium effect and weak effect.
The names of common topical corticosteroid drugs and their corresponding strength concentrations are as follows, you can pick up the ointment at home and look at it
(Source)
Drugs of different strengths are used for different situations
Topical glucocorticoids are widely used and can be used to treat seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, neurodermatitis, contact dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, sweat herpes, lichen planus, pemphigus, vitiligo and other diseases.
● Different diseases
Super potent and potent hormones: suitable for the treatment of psoriasis, lichen planus, hypertrophic eczema, neurodermatitis and so on.
Moderate-acting hormones: suitable for the initial treatment of eczema dermatitis such as atopic dermatitis, eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, etc.
Weak hormones: suitable for the initial treatment of mild lesions such as diaper dermatitis, mild facial dermatitis, and medesculosis.
● Site of onset
The absorption rate of the skin in each part of the body varies from high to low: mucosal > scrotum> eyelid > face> chest and back> upper arm thigh> forearm calf> hand back foot back> palm > nail.
Generally, the higher the absorption rate of the skin, the weaker hormone should be used; otherwise, the more potent hormone should be used.
For example, the head, face, and perineum are generally used with weak hormones; the trunk and limbs can be selected with medium and strong hormones; the hands, feet, back, and neck are generally selected with strong hormones.
● Duration of medication, age of the patient, extent of damage
Medium-weak hormones are generally used for long-term medications, while medium-potent hormones are used for short-term medications.
Adults can choose moderately potent hormones or more, and children and the elderly try to use moderately potent hormones.
Moderately weak hormones can be used in a wide range of damage, and strong hormones are selected for the limited range of damage.
Here's a supplement to the amount of topical glucocorticoids to be applied to different areas, and the reference values for fingertip units (FTUs) for each skin unit:
It takes about 2.5 FTU for the face and neck, 7.0 FTU for the front chest and back, 3.0 FTU for the unilateral upper limb, 1.0 FTU for the unilateral hand, 6.0 FTU for the unilateral lower limb, and 2.0 FTU for the single foot.
(Fingertip unit is FTU)
Precautions for medication for special populations
● Children
Continuous treatment does not exceed 2 weeks, diaper dermatitis in infants should be used with caution in particular;
Treatment for children under 2 years of age does not exceed 7 days (7 days);
The area of the dressing is not greater than 10% of the body surface area;
Non-tightly wrapped.
● Pregnant and lactating women
Topical hormones are listed by the FDA as a class C drug in pregnancy, and should be used with caution during pregnancy and lactation, and there are several considerations in the European (2011) Guidelines for Topical Hormones for Pregnant Women:
With the use of topical hormones in pregnancy, weak and moderately acting hormones should be selected;
Potent and super potent hormones are only used as second-line drugs and can only be used for short periods of time;
Avoid the use of antibiotic-containing compound topical hormones, which may increase the risk of fetal growth restriction and stillbirth.
Be wary of the harm of long-term external use
In the case of unclear etiology, the abuse or long-term use of topical corticosteroids, one is that it may cover up the condition, and the other is that it will make the skin dependent, easily causing skin atrophy, telangiectasia, flushing, purpura, hypopigmentation or composure, hirsutism, etc., and may also induce acne-like rashes, hormone-induced rosacea-like rashes, perioral dermatitis, folliculitis, fungal infections, etc.
However, hormones are not a flood beast but a double-edged sword, although long-term external use may have many adverse reactions, as long as the condition is reasonably regulated under the guidance of a doctor, there will generally be no adverse reactions, or adverse reactions can be minimized, so there is no need to fear and resist topical hormone drugs.
And we want to avoid buying irregular hormone-containing products in our daily lives, we can remember the following points:
●Try to use large-brand cosmetics and drugs through formal channels.
●Do not buy products with factory name, factory address, implementation standards, and incomplete production dates, and avoid choosing three no products.
● Skin care products with slogans such as "pure natural, 0 hormones, fast and powerful", and have a particularly good effect after use, are likely to secretly add a lot of hormones, do not buy and use at will.
● When buying drugs, check the label of the medicine box, look for the "national medicine quasi-brand size" (medicine name number), and avoid choosing the ointment of the elimination number, or the ointment with a very "domineering" name (such as XX spirit, XX expert, god XX, etc.).
Finally, I would like to ask you what ointments with very outrageous names and efficacy have been seen? Leave a comment to other small partners to avoid lightning ~ by the way, click in the watch + share, so that more people can correctly understand and use hormone ointment.
〔Reference〕
ZHANG Jianzhong. Classification of glucocorticoids and their application in dermatology[J].Chinese Medical Abstracts (Dermatology), 2015:3+11-17.