Steroid cream

[Nutjob]

My dd had always had quite bad eczema, and my doctor has prescribed 'Fucedin H' for when it gets really horrid for her, and I must say it works really well.

Anyway, for the first time ever, she has now got a patch of eczema on her face, and my dh was going to use a bit of steroid cream on it, but I wasn't sure if it was suitable to be used on the face. Any advice?

Hi Nutjob

I have had lots of problems recently with my dd's eczema and she had a badly infected area on her face. Fortunately, it now seems to be under control but the cream I have been prescribed does contain steroids.

I think that if you are to use it on the face, you should probably use the lowest dose available and not apply it to the same area for long periods.

There are lots of suggestions for different creams and lotions and things that might be of help on the other thread - Eczema - how should I treat it?

nutjob- fucidin h is fine for the face- used sparingly and for short periods. probably best to check it's the one with 0.1% hydrocortisone in it (don't think it comes any stronger in fucidin h but I'm not entirely sure). It should say on the side of the tube. (I had to use it for my ds1 was a while). BTW is your dd's eczema infected as fucidin H is really for infected eczma? If it infected you could try something like dermol as an emollient (although thinking about it we were told not to use dermol on the face).

Thanx girls, I have just checked the tube and yes it is 0.1% hydrocortisone, but your right I only normally use it if her eczema has become weepy, this isn't, it is just the normal dry scaly patch. Her usual emollient is Eucerin, anyone know if that is OK on the face?

Eucerin have got a website. You should be able to find what you use there and I imagine it will tell you whether you can use it on the face.
www.eucerin.co.uk/

Eucerin contains Lanolin, which can aggravate Eczema. My gp did not reccommend it, but ignore me if yours did! We use Unguentum Merck, which is excellent, although requires a lot of rubbing in. Another good one is Diprobase, which is slightly runnier. All of the emollients (as far as I am aware) are suitable for the face, but perhaps you could do a search on the net under the product name for more info.

My DS has eczema, usually behind the knees, elbows, shins,etc. It always more or less goes in summer,and always returns in Autumn.
This year however, he has none on his body, just a small area on his face which is really persistant. I usually use an Aloh vera cream, and only use the eczema cream, when it gets really bad,even on his face.
Apart, from the thining of the skin, it has been said that the usual eczema creams can cause nut allergies, as they contain alot of peanut oil.
I also found my sons eczema, gets worse if he goes swimming alot(the chlorinated water) especially,in open air pools where it is dried on his skin by the sun.

Most creams and ointments were reformulated following the peanut oil scare. However, if you want to check, I think it is usually listed in the ingredients as `arachis oil'.

I use steriod cream on ds face but it has to be a certain mesured amount, you should be able to get this chart (includes whole body) from you doctor or hospital and also I was advised to put it on after you have put the moisturiser on.

The leaflet in the Fucidin H pack should give guidance as to how much to use on specific parts of the body (in fingertip units), should you decide to use it for the eczema on the face. If there is no leaflet in the pack, have a look at the electronic medicines compendium (emc.vhn.net) under Fucidin H PIL.

My son has Fucidin for his acne, this is on his face and back, he's supposed to put it on each spot rather than cover the whole area.

The BNF says the potency is mild,