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Treating eczema during pregnancy

Eczema is a fairly common condition the symptoms of which can persist after conception. Treatment to control the lesions commonly consists of an emollient, a steroidal skin preparation, occasionally oral medication or a combination of any of these.

Emmolients are meant to soothe and rehydrate the skin. There are many such preparation with many different proprietary names. Common ones include E45®, Oilatum®, Neutrogena®, Vaseline®, aqueous cream, white soft paraffin etc.

There is no evidence of adverse effect from the use of these emmolients during pregnancy. Steroidal skin (topical) preparations, when used as recommended, are also regarded to be safe to use during pregnancy.

There is a whole plethora of emollients, meant to soothe the skin in conditions like Eczema (pictured below). Most of them are safe to continue using during pregnancy. However, like for all forms of medicine, it is crucial to read the manufacturer’s advice

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