Hc45 Hydrocortisone Cream

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Satisfactory
Side effects	Hardly any
Effectiveness	Satisfactory

Advantages:	saves going to the docs
Disadvantages:	only suitable for mild irritations

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I sometimes suffer from eczema on the palms of my hands, I once suffered it on my legs.
I first developed it when I was 16 and started work, when I was about 18-19 I had tests and found I was allergic to certain chemicals in cosmetics. At the time I wrote to all the cosmetic companies that I used to find out if they had the chemicals in their products. (and stopped using them if they did) I wasn't totally convinced with the findings althought I thought hairspray did aggravate it if it had already flared up. I also thought which I believe to this day that working with paper doesnt help either.

I was prescribed numerous ointments and creams at first, one worked, I used it and it went away. I didn't have a problem again until I was about 25 and couldn't be bothered going to the doctors as you could now buy some hydrocortisone creams over the counter. I decided to try them first.
I used HC 45 and it seemed to work so this is what I am going to review.

HC 45 contains the active ingredient hydrocortisone which is used to reduce inflammation. Inflammation happens due to irritation of the skin, and is caused by the release of various substances that are important in the immune system. These substances cause blood vessels to widen, resulting in the irritated area becoming red, swollen, itchy and painful.

When hydrocortisone is applied to the skin it apparently works by acting inside the skin cells to decrease the inflamation reducing the itchiness etc. This is why it should not be used long term as it can cause the skin to thin.

HC 45 can also be used on insect bites, but in any case it recommends that it is not used for more than seven consecutive days.

Now when I first used this it did clear my eczema up but took a while but at the time it was quite bad
Since then I have had a couple of flare ups my latest being again on the palm of my hands. As I haven't had a flare up for years i decided to try HC 45 again, I apply it and as long as my hands are quite cool it does stop the itching and the eczema does calm down. But as soon as the atmosphere is quite warm my hands start to itch and when I apply the cream it doesn't really help.

I find that my hands have to be cool if I want this ceam to work so if it's quite warm i find the best thing to do is run my hands under cold water and pat them dry before applying it, it does seem to have some effect then.

**************** Ingredients *****************

hydrocortisone acetate BP 1%
white soft paraffin
cetomacrogol emulsifying wax
liquid paraffin
phenoxyethanol
purified water

Would I recommend this cream - I would if the eczema was just flaring up and it was used immediately or it was very mild.

The price was quite cheap I am pretty sure it was under £2 from a local chemist which shocked me.