Perhaps one of the most over prescribed and under researched medication administered by doctors and dermatologists are topical steroids. Their uses are common but wide in scope, and include various skin disorders and diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, acne, dermatitis, and rashes. The question is, are they safe to use?

Many times people will consider them safe just because they are prescribed by a wide cohort of doctors, medical professionals, and dermatologists alike. The reason they are so easily prescribed is because what they do is quickly alter the state of skin problems.

Topical steroids are effective due largely to the speed in which they are absorbed into one's skin cells. Once absorbed they are able to cease an array of inflammation-causing chemicals that are normally released when the skin reacts to allergens or irritation.

Blood vessels are widened by the inflammation causing chemicals when left untreated. This is what leads to the red and swollen effect. So the advantageous effect is that there is a greatly reduced inflammation caused by the prevention of this release from within the skin. Relief is provided for symptoms such as irritation. The problem lies in that topical steroids regularly elicit far more damaging side effects than the original condition they are treating.

WHY TOPICAL TREATMENTS ARE NOT THE BEST NATURAL AND EFFECTIVE ACNE TREATMENT TO ELIMINATE ACNE INFLAMMATION

What can happen can be negative in terms of both internal and external damage. Some effects could be:

- Hair loss - Kidney and liver problems - Prostate enlargement and testicular atrophy - Adrenal gland suppression - Crushing's Syndrome - Fluid retention - Raised blood pressure - Diabetes - Increased aggression - Anaphylactic shock - Birth defects - Blood clotting - Cancer - Cardiovascular disease - Depression - Gynecomastia

What happens to the skin as a result of topical steroids is not pretty either. Some of the most pressing of these include:

- Stretch marks, striae, and the thinning of the skin - Easy bruising and tearing of the skin - Enlarged blood vessels (telangiectasia) - Perioral dermatitis (rash around the mouth) - A higher susceptibility to infections of the skin - Disguising infection including tinea incognito - The steroid cream giving off strong allergies

As you can see, the list of side effects are far more damaging and life threatening than the original problems topical steroids are intended to remove. However, there are other solutions to skin problems such as natural acne treatment cream that avoid all such severe side effects, therefore rendering topical treatments impractical and illogical to recommend.