How long can I use hydrocortisone cream for?
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free skin care · Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:34 pm

I've recently developed a weird rash all over my face- cheeks, around the mouth and forehead. So I've been using a topical cream that contains a few active ingredients, one of which is hydrocortisone. I know that prolonged use of it can lead to thinning of the skin but I was wondering how long is it before it damages the skin?
I've been using it twice a day for 4 days then stopped for a few days but now the rash is getting worse so I'm back on that cream again.
I intend to see the doctors very soon but I want to continue using it until the doctor is available but I am scared of the side effects!

Any help would be great, as a lot of people have commmented on this "disease" that I have so it is prety bad!

Thanks Smile

free skin care · Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:36 pm

I use a cream that has hydrocortisone in it (small pea size amount) for my face everyday. I don't know safe it is, but its the only thing that helps my acne. I've told my derm about this, and he didn't seem too concerned that I was using it so often. You may want to speak with your doctor in your case.

free skin care · Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:15 pm

Hi there!

I have just seen my doctor about my rash plus my acne as well (he gave me some other topical to use, which I've started another thread on Wink

). He told me to stop using the hydrocortisone cream, as I've been using it for a few days and that most doctors (General Practitioners) advise against prolonged use of hydrocortisone on the skin. He said hydrocortisone is used for relieving itchiness and most people with excema use it.
Although I do want to continue using the cream, as it is somewhat helping and the cream that he prescribed isnt really that good (I used it when I had a similar rash on my face but back then I didnt have acne), I have decided to not use it. As well as the doctor advising me not to, the box does "POISON" written on it! But I think that its poisonous with prolonged use and if consumed.

free skin care · Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:45 am

Hydrocortisone does thin the skin, and the effect is cumulative. Once the damage is done, it's done. Most doctors advise using it only when desperate. A little here and there over your lifetime is not a big deal. But if you use it all the time, you may come to regret it as you get older. The damage that was done tends to really show in one's late 30s and 40s when skin starts to lose its firmness and elasticity.

Do you know what is causing your rash? So often we treat the symptoms but not the cause.

free skin care · Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:00 am

Jeannine wrote:

Hydrocortisone does thin the skin, and the effect is cumulative. Once the damage is done, it's done. Most doctors advise using it only when desperate. A little here and there over your lifetime is not a big deal. But if you use it all the time, you may come to regret it as you get older. The damage that was done tends to really show in one's late 30s and 40s when skin starts to lose its firmness and elasticity.

Do you know what is causing your rash? So often we treat the symptoms but not the cause.

I was told by my doctor that hydrocortisone should never be used on the face, for this reason.

I used hydrocortisone cream on my shins (for eczema) for years, and I regret it now because it really didn't do much for the eczema, and my skin definitely thinned out there -- it's like crinkled tissue paper. (I'm using CPs on them now to try to build up the skin and repair some of the damage.)

free skin care · Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:13 am

Thanks Jeannine and cathy_jean!

I hope my skin wont show any of those signs when I'm 30 or something....

I still do not know what caused the rash. My GP wasnt that helpful, just basically told me that it could be anything Rolling Eyes

. He said that most of the time, the skin reacts to different things that we've taken in orally or applied topically, and that its difficult to know the cause cos skin issues are very complex. As if I didnt know that Wink

free skin care · Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:19 am

Hi, I have read that you should not use it longer than 2 weeks consecutively.

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:01 pm

I think i might have to ween myself off of this stuff!

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:11 pm

Sometimes when you use hydrocortisone on your face (for a rash) another type of rash develops that will require antibiotics to treat. I would suggest a referral to a dermatologist before things get out of hand. You don't want to be on antibiotics for months which can also happen. I wouldn't use hydrocortisone on the face regularly for that reason.

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:00 pm

Hi, yeahyeah. I'm prone to rashes due to allergies and stress. If I can't pinpoint the cause, and I need to clear up my skin, I follow Perricone's 3-day facelift diet to the letter (it's free on the internet--search for the key words) and I use only gentle, natural products that I know are okay for me (absolutely no samples or harsh stuff). It stinks because I am not a fan of deprivation, especially when it comes to giving up chocolate and sweets, but this diet always works to clear my skin quickly. Once my skin is clear, I slowly go back to my regular eat-whatever-I-want diet and start sampling again.

yeahyeah wrote:

Thanks Jeannine and cathy_jean!

I hope my skin wont show any of those signs when I'm 30 or something....

I still do not know what caused the rash. My GP wasnt that helpful, just basically told me that it could be anything Rolling Eyes

. He said that most of the time, the skin reacts to different things that we've taken in orally or applied topically, and that its difficult to know the cause cos skin issues are very complex. As if I didnt know that Wink

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:32 pm

Hi Jeannine

WOW that 3 day diet is quite some thing...I've never been on a diet in my whole life. Well I have had to quit eating a few things for a short period of time due to illness, but I've never had to change my diet really.

I was wondering if anyone else has been on this diet?

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:34 pm

My understanding is that prolonged use can result is long term damage to the epidermis.

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:51 pm

I've never heard that the Perricone diet could cause damage, and I'm not really sure how it could. Basically, it drastically limits processed food-- especially white flour, sugar, rice, etc.--and calls for healthy stuff like lean chicken, wild Alaskan salmon, apples and pears, dark leafy greens, oatmeal, almonds and walnuts, etc. Plus, you only follow it for 3 days.

Kiwi bird wrote:

My understanding is that prolonged use can result is long term damage to the epidermis.

free skin care · Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:58 pm

Jeannine wrote:

I've never heard that the Perricone diet could cause damage, and I'm not really sure how it could. Basically, it drastically limits processed food-- especially white flour, sugar, rice, etc.--and calls for healthy stuff like lean chicken, wild Alaskan salmon, apples and pears, dark leafy greens, oatmeal, almonds and walnuts, etc. Plus, you only follow it for 3 days.

Kiwi bird wrote:

My understanding is that prolonged use can result is long term damage to the epidermis.

I think Kiwi bird is referring to prolonged cortisone cream usage can cause damage.

I am the queen of rash and dermatitis and had to use cortisone cream on my face on various occasion. I was told not to use more than a week. I usually mix 1/2 cortaid with 1/2 bland moisturizer when needed.

I was given a 2.5% rx strength cortisone cream for severe contact dermatitis on my hands. Was told to apply a small amount on dry skin for 1 week max as well.

Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:54 pm

mtview wrote:

Jeannine wrote:

I've never heard that the Perricone diet could cause damage, and I'm not really sure how it could. Basically, it drastically limits processed food-- especially white flour, sugar, rice, etc.--and calls for healthy stuff like lean chicken, wild Alaskan salmon, apples and pears, dark leafy greens, oatmeal, almonds and walnuts, etc. Plus, you only follow it for 3 days.

Kiwi bird wrote:

My understanding is that prolonged use can result is long term damage to the epidermis.

I think Kiwi bird is referring to prolonged cortisone cream usage can cause damage.

I am the queen of rash and dermatitis and had to use cortisone cream on my face on various occasion. I was told not to use more than a week. I usually mix 1/2 cortaid with 1/2 bland moisturizer when needed.

I was given a 2.5% rx strength cortisone cream for severe contact dermatitis on my hands. Was told to apply a small amount on dry skin for 1 week max as well.

Hi,
please be really carefull with cortisone cream. I had contact excema on my hands for around 2 years and i constantly used the cortisone cream to try and fix it with out realising that i needed to change a facewash i was using that was causing the excema in the first place. Now i have thinned the skin on my fingers and not only does it mean that they get cut and scraped alot easier, but they are alot more likely to flare up, and i hate having to use the cream on them again coz my skin is so damaged allready. If any1 has experienced this and knows of any way it can be fixed please let me know.

Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:25 am

hey
i've been using hydrocortisone cream for about 5years does this mean i'm going to look 80 when I'm actually 40?

Mon May 09, 2011 12:48 pm

I am 56 years old and started using 2% cortisone cream several times a day, every day for at least 30 years! I slathered it on (per Dr. instructions)my eyelids, under my eyes, around my mouth, my neck and inner elbows and behind my knees. No one told me it would thin my skin until I went to the dermatologist at 28 and he offered to do Botox on me! Oddly enough I didn't have a single wrinkle on my face until I was well into my 40's. However, the skin in all of the places I'd used the cream so liberally is NOW wrinkled and thin. I wonder how I would have aged had I never used it. At the time my exzema was so bad that I would have done anything to stop the itching so I guess that is my trade-off. No one who doesn't have it can understand that you want to scratch all the way down to the bone to stop the itching!!! I hope this helps the rest of you about the long term effects. I probably don't look any older than my age but I would have looked 10 years younger like my Mom does!

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