The harm of hormone ointment to babies

When giving medication to babies, parents must be careful to use as few medications with high hormone content as possible, because the hormones contained in these medications may have a significant impact on the baby's body. It is also quite common for babies to develop skin diseases. The most important way to relieve skin diseases is to use some ointments. What are the dangers if you accidentally use hormone ointment on your baby?

Do the hormones in eczema ointments have any effect on children?

When a baby has eczema, the skin will become unbearably itchy, and some ointments will become parents' first choice of medicine. However, when they see that the ointments contain certain hormones, they can't help but worry. Experts remind us that there is nothing wrong with using these hormone preparations to relieve itching in principle, but some ointments are weak hormones with general anti-itching effects, and children often fail to achieve the ideal therapeutic effect. If such topical medications are used too frequently and for too long, the child's skin can easily develop hormone resistance, resulting in a reduced response of the skin to hormones. Even applying more ointment will be of no use. Therefore, children should use such drugs with caution and it is best to follow the doctor's advice.

Moreover, when using hormone ointment for infant eczema, the following principles must be followed:

The first principle: strictly control the indications. Topical hormonal drugs are mainly suitable for various non-infectious skin diseases, such as dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, pityriasis alba, pityriasis rosea, etc. Skin diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi such as impetigo, herpes simplex, tinea pedis, etc. are absolute contraindications for topical hormone ointments.

The second principle: to master the “degree” of medication. Generally speaking, all hormone ointments have the following statement in their instructions: "Children need to use the drug under adult supervision" and "Long-term use may cause skin atrophy, capillary dilation, pigmentation and secondary infection." This involves the issue of the "degree" of use, one is the duration of use, and the other is the amount used. Generally, continuous use of the drug should not exceed 2 weeks and it should not be used on a large area. If used for too long, in addition to possibly causing hormone-dependent dermatitis, it may also cause local skin atrophy and capillary dilation. Long-term use over a large area may cause systemic side effects due to excessive absorption.

The third principle: choose a hormone ointment of appropriate strength. Topical hormone drugs can be divided into weak, medium, strong and super strong according to the degree of their ability to constrict skin blood vessels and inhibit inflammation. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the appropriate ointment according to the severity of the patient's condition, the site of the disease, and the patient's age. Under normal circumstances, only weak and medium-strength hormone ointments are used for infants and young children. Weak hormones are suitable for the face and intertriginous skin, such as 1% hydrocortisone cream and 0.025% dexamethasone cream; medium-strength hormones can be used on the trunk or limbs, such as 0.1% triamcinolone cream, 0.1% mometasone furoate cream, etc.