Pimples and acne on the face can appear for a variety of reasons. Allergies are no exception. And in order to save the skin, and at the same time get rid of acne, many dermatologists, as well as allergists, recommend using a reliable and proven product - advantan.
It is important to remember that the drug, which is available in several forms, is a hormonal drug, so it is not recommended for anyone to prescribe it on their own. The fact is that the active substance, after application to the skin, easily penetrates into the blood and reaches all organs and systems, which can cause many different complications.
Advantan - facial ointment - instructions for use
For the treatment of skin diseases localized in the facial part, it is not recommended to use hormonal ointment. The decision on the advisability of using ointment for facial skin should be made by a doctor. The danger lies in the development of such undesirable effects:
- excessive pigmentation;
- the appearance of depigmented areas of the skin;
- thinning of the epidermis;
- hypersensitivity reaction;
- pathologies and complications.
Apply a thin layer of ointment to the face once a day. The optimal duration of treatment is from 3 to 5 days. The maximum period of use is up to 60 days with the permission of the attending physician. Under no circumstances should you cover the ointment with a bandage or compress, as this increases the risk of side effects.
What to replace
In the case of treating acne caused by allergic reactions or dermatitis of any origin, Advantan can be replaced with other similar drugs. The most popular analogues today are:
- "Alergoderm".
- "Sinaflan".
- "Flutsar."
- "Betamethasone."
- "Beloderm".
It is important to remember that you should never self-medicate. Moreover, teenage acne is treated with completely different means - more effective and safe.
Instructions for use of Advantan cream for children
In pediatric dermatology, the cream is prescribed for dermatitis and inflammatory skin diseases. Pre-cleaned skin should be covered with a thin layer of cream and not covered with clothing or bandages until absorbed. The course of treatment is from 3 to 30 days. Precautionary measures:
- avoid getting the cream on mucous membranes and eyes;
- Keep out of the reach of children;
- Do not wet the treated area of skin for 2-3 hours.
The cream should not be used if the rash is of a bacterial or viral nature, for example, with chicken pox or measles.
Indications: what helps
This drug, having an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect, relieves patients from such unpleasant symptoms as itching, burning, swelling, and redness.
Advantan carefully takes care of the skin, eliminating roughness that is caused by constant scratching of problem areas.
The drug is prescribed:
- for eczema (microbial, occupational);
- for atopic dermatitis (as well as seborrheic and contact);
- with photodermatitis;
- with neurodermatitis;
- for pityriasis rosea;
- for psoriasis;
- with hemangioma.
Advantan is successfully used for burns caused by various reasons: contact with hot surfaces, chemicals, hogweed juice and nettles.
Reputable children's doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky believes that Advantan works more effectively for diathesis than many other drugs (a number of sites provide convincing photos of babies before and after treatment).
The secret of this drug is that, being a new generation pharmaceutical product, it is practically not absorbed through the skin, but it actively works in the places where it was applied.
The doctor emphasizes: the purpose of Advantan is to eliminate the external symptoms of the disease, but in parallel with this, a course of treatment should be carried out to eliminate the causes of the disease.
Instructions for use of Advantan ointment for infants
Newborns are prescribed the remedy from 1 month for acne, diaper rash, urticaria (sweating rash), allergic and other dermatitis. Rules of use:
- Apply once a day to clean, dry skin;
- course duration – up to 3 weeks;
- After application, do not swaddle or dress the baby.
It is important to ensure that the product does not get into your eyes or mouth. Therefore, it is better to carry out the procedure before bedtime, when the child is not active and cannot move the ointment from the application site with his hands.
Advantan for acne reviews
Yuri: I bought this product about a year ago and I still haven't run out of the cream, I periodically get random pimple breakouts during some days of the month, and through treatment with Advantan I quickly get rid of these annoying pimples. I haven't had any irritation at all. with this product, although I have super sensitive skin because I use a very small amount of cream.
Anastasia: Advantan for acne completely suited my skin. Some people complain about the smell, but it doesn’t bother me. I also felt some tingling for about a minute after applying the cream, but there was no irritation after that.
Olga: Personally, I will not use this product again! After a few uses it gave me what felt like chemical burns on a few of my pimples, especially on my subcutaneous pimple. Usually my skin's pimples just go away after a few weeks, but this product burned the first layer of my skin and now I have an ugly sore in that area It did the same for a couple of my other pimples and I stopped using Advantan for the sake of my skin's health.
Instructions for use of Advanten emulsion for children
The emulsion in pediatrics is used for dermatitis of various etiologies, except for atopic lesions, as it does not sufficiently protect the skin from drying out. Rules of use for the treatment of children's skin:
- frequency of application – 1 time per day;
- method - distribution in a thin layer on the affected area of the skin;
- Duration of treatment is from 5 to 28 days.
If there are pustules or bleeding ulcers on the skin, you should discontinue use and consult a doctor to select a replacement.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with Complications of phimosis in men and their correction - the pros and cons of treatment methods for phimosis in adults
Advantan cream - analogues - instructions for use, price
Preparations with a similar composition (0.1% methylprednisolone):
- Sterocord - 100 hryvnia, 250 rubles or 7.75 Belarusian rubles;
- Metizolone - 120 hryvnia, 295 rubles or 8.2 Belarusian rubles.
Use every 24 hours for a month without breaks. It is not advisable to apply under a compress due to the risk of side effects:
- necrotic processes in the skin;
- redness;
- thinning of the dermis;
- reducing the effectiveness of local defense mechanisms.
Water-based cream does not protect the skin from drying out and for severe dryness it is better to use fatty ointments.
How is the medicine produced?
Advantan is available in 4 different forms. To understand the difference between an ointment and a cream, you just need to look at the composition and find out how much of the active substance is contained in the medicine.
- The cream contains 0.001 g of methylprednisolone.
- The emulsion also contains exactly the same amount of active substance.
- The ointment is the same 0.001 g of methylprednisolone.
- Fatty ointment has exactly the same number in its composition.
The only difference between one dosage form and another is the presence of other auxiliary components. They are the ones who want the medicine to be thick or half liquid.
If we consider the second common question - whether the drug Advantan is hormonal or not, then the answer here will be this: this medicine is a hormonal drug for external use.
Advantan ointment - instructions for use for children
In children, the ointment is used as a symptomatic remedy in the case of:
- diaper dermatitis;
- atopic skin lesions;
- allergic skin reactions;
- eczema.
Children are allowed to use corticosteroid drugs only occasionally or for a short course of up to 5-7 days. Can be used from 4 months.
Contraindications for use:
- addition of bacterial and viral infections;
- hypersensitivity to the ingredients of the drug;
- rosacea;
- rash in the mouth area;
- ulcers;
- shingles.
Apply to open skin or under a compress once daily. Cannot be used for longer than 30 days.
Cheap analogues and substitutes and which one is better
There are no direct analogues of Advantan. Based on the characteristics of the development of the disease and the age of the patient, the doctor can recommend to the patient the remedy that will solve his problem faster and more effectively. It can be:
- Akriderm (ointment, cream), Belogent – prescribed for children after one year of age (we wrote about the use of Belogent here);
- Beloderm, Cutivate, Lokoid, Afloderm - suitable for six-month-old infants and older children; You will find indications and instructions for using Lokoid ointment and cream here.
- Elidel - for babies from three months, when hormonal drugs are contraindicated;
- Elokom (cream, lotion, ointment), Momat - used for patients at least two years old;
- Pimafukort, Triderm - are most effective for fungal and bacterial dermatitis, as they contain antimicrobial components;
- Sinaflan - copes well with itching due to psoriasis, from insect bites, allergies, for which Sinaflan ointment is also used, you will find out in this article;
- Celestoderm - has a strong anti-inflammatory effect due to the presence of antibiotics in the ointment;
- Fenistil - used for urticaria, reduces external manifestations of allergies, has analgesic properties;
- Clotrimazole - helps against pathogenic fungi of various types, for example, with thrush;
- Candida – relieves itching, effective in treating fungal infections;
- Hydrocortisone (ointment) – treats itching, relieves inflammation, is often prescribed to patients diagnosed with contact dermatitis; You can find out what else Hydrocortisone ointment is used for in this article;
- Flucinar - used against various types of dermatitis, age restriction - a ban on the use of the medicine for children under 2 years of age; We wrote more about the indications for use of Flucinar ointment here;
- Fluorocort is a drug with a wide spectrum of effects, prescribed (under the supervision of a doctor) to expectant mothers;
- Comfoderm - for eczema and dermatitis, for patients over 18 years of age.
Many people are usually concerned about the cost of the medicine recommended to them. If there is an opportunity for an adequate replacement, the doctor, of course, will suggest purchasing cheaper analogues of Advantan (its cost is from 330 to 500 rubles from different suppliers and sellers).
However, if the “understudy” is not able to solve the problem as effectively as Advantan, the cost of the drug should fade into the background; health is still more expensive.
Here's how much some relatively inexpensive ointments and creams cost (for 15-gram tubes):
- Akriderm -119 rub.,
- Beloderm – 195 rub.,
- Cutivate – 268 rub.,
- Momat – 242 rub.,
- Flucinar – 182 rub.,
- Celestoderm – 208 rub.
Contraindications and side effects
Advantan ointment should be used taking into account certain contraindications. Compliance with them is mandatory to prevent the occurrence of health problems.
Restrictions on the use of ointment are:
- skin manifestations of syphilis;
- lupus;
- viral diseases of the skin - the ointment is not used for shingles and chickenpox;
- skin reaction to vaccination;
- drug intolerance;
- age up to 4 months.
Side effects from treatment do not occur often. The composition is well tolerated by most patients and does not cause side effects.
The main negative side effects from use may be:
- burning;
- itching;
- formation of erythema;
- skin atrophy at the site of application - with an excessive duration of treatment;
- formation of stretch marks.
If the drug is used strictly according to the recommendations given by the doctor or indicated in the instructions, no adverse reactions to the treatment should occur. If they appear, discontinue the ointment and visit the doctor who prescribed this treatment. It will be possible to continue therapy only if the specialist gives permission.
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Adverse reactions
The use of the medication may cause the development of undesirable effects, such as dryness and peeling of the dermis.
When methylprednisolone is used topically, rashes, burning and itching may develop at the site where the medication is applied. The skin becomes dry, peels, blisters, erythema, paresthesia, and cracks develop after using Advantan. Less often, patients complain of infectious skin lesions and inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue.
Composition and properties of "advantan"
"Advantan" is a product for external use. It has the following medicinal properties:
- antiallergic;
- relieves the inflammatory process of any etiology;
- reduces itching, pain threshold and irritation;
- promotes rapid regeneration of damaged epidermis.
This drug is hormonal, since the main active ingredient is a synthetic steroid hormone. Any type of drug produced contains 0.1% of the main active ingredient - methylprednisolone aceponate. Other components depend on the form of release of the drug:
- benzyl alcohol, glycerin and water are added to the ointment;
- the cream contains castor oil, wax and petroleum jelly;
- The components of the emulsion are glycerin, softizan, benzyl and steryl alcohol, and water.
Of all types of medicine, it is the emulsion that is highly effective in treating pathologies such as dermatitis and eczema.
Release form
Advantan is represented on the international pharmaceutical market by the famous German concern Bayer (the drug was developed in Germany and produced mainly in Italy).
You should not look in pharmacies for Advantan tablets, spray or powder of the same name, from which a suspension could be prepared. The manufacturer limited the release forms to cream, ointments and emulsion.
There is a difference between them, which means that you cannot make arbitrary changes without consulting a doctor - change an emulsion for a cream or an ointment for an emulsion.
Ointment
There are two types - just ointment and fatty ointment, the composition of which, and therefore the purpose, have some differences.
The components of the first drug are fats and a small amount of water. This ointment can be used if the inflammatory process is not weeping: the dryness of the skin is eliminated and the natural level of oil content is restored.
Fatty ointment differs from regular ointment in that it does not contain water at all. It is recommended for use in the treatment of chronic diseases.
Fatty ointment for combating lichenification gives especially good results. What it is, probably only specialists know, although many patients have directly encountered the problem - this is the name for the condition of the skin, which, due to constant scratching, becomes hard, rough and thicker compared to healthy areas of the skin.
The ointment (sometimes the annotation uses the word “gel” to describe the drug) is available in tubes of 15 and 50 g. They use quite a lot of it, since if the skin is very dry, the medicine has to be applied in a thicker layer than, for example, Advantan cream.
Cream
The differences between ointment and cream concern their chemical composition: cream contains much more water than ointment. The drug is a white, opaque substance and is usually sold in 15-gram tubes.
The cream is used to treat acute forms of diseases , as well as in cases where the skin rashes are weeping. The drug is also used to treat the skin of the scalp.
If after using the drug the dryness of the skin increases significantly, the doctor decides to replace the cream with an ointment.
Emulsion
The proportion of active ingredient in the emulsion is 0.1 percent. The drug goes on sale in 20-gram tubes.
It is especially effective in the treatment of contact dermatitis, helps patients with sunburn (skin affected by scorching rays should be smeared 1 or 2 times a day, no more).
If the skin dries out too much, then, as in the situation with cream, experts recommend replacing the emulsion with ointment.
Doctor's reviews about the drug Advantan:
pharmachologic effect
Advantan is intended for external use. It quickly and actively penetrates tissues, providing a pronounced therapeutic effect in a short time. When Advantan is applied to the affected areas of the epidermis, under its influence, vasoconstriction occurs, which eliminates redness and a local increase in temperature, and also helps relieve itching in the inflamed area.
The drug slows down the release of inflammatory mediators, thereby eliminating the pathological process and tissue swelling.
Advantan, even when used over large areas, enters the systemic bloodstream in minimal quantities and does not lead to disturbances in the functioning of internal organs, including the adrenal glands and liver. The components of the composition that penetrate into the blood are excreted by the kidneys, and their overload does not occur at this moment.
