Treating the skin disease neurodermatitis

The skin disease neurodermatitis affects children primarily. When treating the skin, parents should carefully check the basic elements of any cream or ointment.

“Creams and ointments can rapidly improve how the skin looks, but only if the base used for these medical and care products is appropriate to the condition of the skin,” says Rolf Daniels of the pharmaceutical department at the University of Tuebingen in Germany.

Water-based creams help with acute infections, but fatty ointments are better suited to treating chronic neurodermatitis. Daniels advises against constantly trying out new products.

“In some cases, constantly trying out new products can even do the skin more harm than good,” the professor says. It is often better for the pharmacist to prepare a cream that best suits the particular skin after consultation with the doctor, he says.

Creams containing active ingredients should not be used indiscriminately with neurodermatitis, depending on the skin condition.

Should a paediatrician prescribe a cream containing cortisone for acute neurodermatitis, this should be applied in accordance with the directions -- mostly just once a day. There should be rapid improvement, but scratch marks will heal only slowly.

“Fears regarding cortisone that many parents have are unfounded if it is used properly,” Daniels says. Cortisone is discontinued in stages after around a week.

Often an intermediate treatment follows, in which the affected skin areas are usually treated with the preparation containing cortisone twice a week. The parents then apply the basic care treatment to their child’s skin on the no-cortisone days. Cortisone creams should never be applied under nappies or on the face.

For some time, preparations containing silver have been used in skin care. Here nano and micro silver particles need to be differentiated. Both consist of finely divided elementary silver, with the silver microparticles more than 100 times larger that the nanoparticles, although still so fine that they do not scratch the skin.

Silver microparticles inhibit topical bacterial growth on the skin, but are not absorbed by the blood.

“Cosmetics using silver microparticles may be useful for neurodermatitis, but this depends on the particular skin condition and the base,” Daniels says. The authorities in Germany advise against the use of silver nanoparticles.