Clinical experience at home and abroad has shown that for mild eczema, hypoallergenic moisturizing creams can be used to treat it, but for moderate and severe eczema, topical hormone creams are preferred. However, when you search for “eczema” and “hormones” on Baidu with keywords, the vast majority of information shown is not to use hormones. This information can easily mislead parents and delay the treatment of their baby’s eczema, making the initial small area of eczema that is easy to control drag into a large area of eczema that is difficult to treat. In addition, the word “hormone” often conjures up images of “precocious puberty” and “endocrine disorders”, so parents instinctively choose to avoid them, fearing that the medication will have side effects on their babies, such as inhibiting growth. In fact, as a topical medicine, hormones are used to prevent the growth of babies. In fact, hormone creams used as topical drugs do not have the side effects that parents associate with them. Usually, only long-term high doses of oral hormones or injections of hormones will produce side effects that involve the endocrine system and inhibit growth, while oral or injected hormones are generally not recommended for the treatment of eczema. The most serious side effect is hormone-dependent dermatitis, and the prerequisite for such serious side effects is long-term, high-dose abuse of strong hormone creams, while short-term use of weak hormone creams may only result in side effects such as skin thinning and hyperpigmentation. In addition, even if hormone creams are not used, skin with eczema will have skin pigmentation changes during the recovery period. This is a skin color change caused by the disease itself, not necessarily a pigmentation caused by hormones, and the pigmentation will slowly fade away over time. There are many kinds of hormone creams in daily life, but the strength is different. 1% hydrocortisone and Eudragitol are comparable in strength and relatively weak. The active ingredient of Liyendra is 0.05% Denard, which is a medium strength hormone. Usually homemade topical dexamethasone creams made in hospitals are weak hormones, but oral or intravenous dexamethasone is a moderately strong hormone. The commonly used topical hormones in order from weak to strong are: homemade creams containing dexamethasone from regular hospitals → 1% hydrocortisone, 0.1% hydrocortisone butyrate (Eudragol) → 0.1% mometasone furoate (Eloson), 0.05% dexedrine → betamethasone → clobetasol. For the treatment of eczema in young children, the last two strong hormones are usually not used. 1% hydrocortisone is usually enough to stop itching and reduce inflammation. When a weaker hormone than Euthyrox is needed, consult a pharmacy, which usually prepares its own. For patients with limited access to medical care, Eudragit can be diluted with a mild, non-irritating emollient cream at a ratio of 1:1 or at least 4:1. The well-known 0.025% Flonase acetate is a medium-strength hormone containing fluoride and is not recommended for use in babies. Also hormones containing fluoride are not recommended for adults to use on the face, as they can easily cause hyperpigmentation and leave discoloration. When using weak topical hormones, you can stop the medication once the symptoms disappear, and there is no need to gradually withdraw the medication. Hormonal creams are the first-line medication for eczema, and immunosuppressants are the second-line option, such as tacrolimus. When severe eczema requires long-term use of strong hormones, tacrolimus analogs are used short-term or intermittently to avoid the side effects associated with hormones in order to avoid long-term use of strong hormonal creams. When the medicine is used in sensitive areas such as the eyes and genitals, tacrolimus may also be used for a short period of time or intermittently to avoid side effects caused by excessive absorption of hormone creams. There is a warning in the product insert for tacrolimus class stating that such drugs have a risk of causing skin cancer, which is a factor to be considered on balance. It should only be considered if the benefits it brings outweigh the risks. For babies, especially those under the age of two, these types of medications should be avoided at all costs. The use of topical hormone creams for baby eczema should follow the following five principles: 1, treatment as weak as possible, unless it is to control acute episodes of moderate or severe eczema, when you can choose a slightly stronger hormone cream for short-term use, once the symptoms of the acute phase are under control, then switch to a weak hormone cream to maintain treatment. 2, hormonal creams are generally applied only 1-2 times a day, and the number of times they are applied should not be too many. If the eczema symptoms are relatively light, a day to apply once to achieve the purpose of stopping itching and fading red rash, then you should only apply once, if the symptoms are not ideal control, at most twice a day. This type of ointment maintains the efficacy for a long time, if applied too many times, not only will not significantly increase the efficacy, but will increase the risk of side effects. The actual fact is that you will be able to find out the reason why you’re not able to get a good deal on your own. 4, home self-care eczema, hormone cream use time to 5-7 days is appropriate, if the eczema symptoms do not improve after 7 days, to see a doctor in time to evaluate the condition and adjust the medication. Under the guidance of a doctor, the use of hormone creams can be extended, but strictly in accordance with medical advice to use. 5. If more than two kinds of creams are used at the same time, the time between the application of each cream should be more than half an hour apart. For example, if you use the hormone cream Euthyrox and also the anti-infection cream Bactrim, the two should be applied half an hour apart.