Suggestions for living with eczema and RSS – The American Academy of Dermatology has released new recommendations regarding dermatologic tests and treatments that are not always necessary. Of the 10 strong suggestions 5 of them relate to RSS patients.

Despise no new accident in your body, but ask opinion of it
Francis Bacon
  1. Don’t use systemic (oral or injected) corticosteroids as a long-term treatment for dermatitis. The potential complications of long-term treatment with oral or injected corticosteroids outweigh the potential benefits.
  2. Don’t use skin prick tests or blood tests such as the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) for the routine evaluation of eczema. When testing for suspected allergies is deemed necessary in patients with dermatitis or eczema, it is better to conduct patch testing with ingredients of products that come in contact with the patient’s skin.
  3. Don’t routinely use antibiotics to treat bilateral swelling and redness of the lower leg unless there is clear evidence of infection. Research has suggested that bilateral lower leg cellulitis is very rare. Patients with swelling and redness of both legs most likely have another condition, such as dermatitis resulting from leg swelling, varicose veins or contact allergies.
  4. Don’t use oral antibiotics for treatment of atopic dermatitis unless there is clinical evidence of infection. Antibiotic therapy has not been shown to reduce the signs, symptoms or severity of atopic dermatitis that is not infected.
  5. Don’t routinely use topical antibiotics on a surgical wound. The use of topical antibiotics on a clean surgical wound has not been shown to reduce the rate of infection compared to the use of non antibiotic ointment or no ointment.