Published 13 November 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4273
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4273

Practice

Uncertainties Page

Should we use bath emollients for atopic eczema?

Andrea Tarr, associate editor, Ike Iheanacho, editor

1 Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, BMJ Group, London WC1H 9JR

Correspondence to: I Iheanacho iiheanacho@bmjgroup.com

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Regular topical application of an emollient cream or ointment is key in the management of patients with atopic eczema and is thought to help the skin maintain a defensive barrier effect, which is defective in atopic eczema.1 Support for such treatment comes from one (non-blinded) randomised controlled trial, which found that regular application of emollients direct to the skin reduced the amount of topical corticosteroid cream needed for atopic eczema in infants.2 Long clinical experience also suggests that directly applied emollients are safe and effective in atopic eczema.

People with atopic eczema are commonly also advised to use an emollient substitute for soap (such as aqueous cream or emulsifying ointment), as soap can irritate the skin (as can bubble bath preparations); patients are also often prescribed a bath emollient to add to their bath water.3 Bath emollients typically consist of liquid paraffin plus another emollient (usually wool fat or isopropyl . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ