Gel or Patches

[Mills2]

I was wondering what people find better to use. Does anyone worry about having the gel on their hands? I am unsure. Thanks

Why would you worry about having the gel on your hands??? You rub it in and then wash your hands.

At first a little bit of a faff having to allow a few minutes for the gel to dry before dressing but I have got into a routine of putting it on before toothbrushing now which seems to work well. It washes off hands easily so that doesn't bother me. I like being able to vary the dose (started on one pump, moved up to two) easily and not having to worry about patches slipping during exercise or leaving gummy marks.

The patches are certainly the faff -free option. Change twice a week, slap it on and forget about it. They come in the pack in the order you have to use them. Unfortunately I didn’t get on with them, I started to get a rash on the progesterone weeks so I’ve switched to gel and tablets this month.

Gel is fine, easy to apply, dries quickly, isn’t sticky at all. I wash my hands straight away so it isn’t on my hands for long. I haven’t started the progesterone yet, so can’t tell you about that.

Gel and tablets is a lot more faffing (gel every day, tablets only 12 days at night on an empty stomach) but I suppose it will be worth it if it works.

I get eczema on my hands and was not keen incase it made it flare up but i'm not good with plasters either.

I have the gel and am also prone to eczema flare ups, and I haven’t found it to be a problem.

I haven't tried gel so can't compare but I've recently started on patches and find them very easy and hassle free. I can't see any downsides.

The dose of gel ( 1 pump) is about half a teaspoon. Unless your hands are already cracked and sore, it ought not to be a problem. As soon as you have spread it , you rinse your hands.

Patches- I was never keen on having a visible sign of hrt like a patch on my bum 24/7!

I have patches, but like Jingling I don' t the visible sign of them - makes me feel old. They look horrible as they get skank trapped in the edges, as plasters do, but the skank really shows as they are transparent.

And I take them off before I have sex, which means I can go a day without having a patch on, which I guess you aren't meant to do.

I chose gel, as I tend to be allergic to plasters or sticky things on my skin. I don't find it a faff, I put it on once out of the shower, wash my hands then floss/clean teeth, apply deodorant and body lotion. By the time I've done that it's dry.

I started HRT back in June. When I've finished the current 3 months of patches, I'm going to see if I can switch to gel. I'm having real trouble keeping the patches in one place. I've been using tegaderm patches to keep the HRT patches on, but it's all really starting to irritate my skin, leaving raised red bumps that can be itchy. I don't tolerate plasters very well, so I'm not really surprised.