Everyday Management of Eczema Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

Both have been found to be very helpful in patients, particularly patients who fail usual topical corticosteroid treatment. Thus far, they appear to be relatively safe drugs.

ALICE GOTTLIEB, MD: Protopic is in an ointment and Elidel is in a cream. And I often ask patients, "Which one do you prefer?" Ointments are more emollient so that they're greasier; therefore, if you have a very dry skin condition, many patients will prefer an ointment because it's more soothing ultimately.

Also, in some cases drugs penetrate better in ointments than creams. However, people live in the real world and they have to put clothes on and they can't afford to sit there two hours a day with nothing on waiting for the ointment to go in. And so creams are a good compromise between convenience and greasy formulation.

ANNOUNCER: There are several ways that these new treatments can be used since their safety and convenience mean they are long-term options.

SHEILA FRIEDLANDER, MD: In particular, Elidel, which has been studied as a means of preventing flares.

ALICE GOTTLIEB, MD: I actually use it as a maintenance treatment that I ask the parent or the child or adult to apply twice a day, as background maintenance. And when there is a flare, they can add a corticosteroid to that.

ANNOUNCER: Having new options in the battle against eczema means patients can have more effective and safer choices that they can use.

SHEILA FRIEDLANDER, MD: Now we have new medications; if you didn't respond to things that were used in the past, perhaps you will respond to some of the newer agents.

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