Aveeno Similar to ‘Disarmed’ Skin-Cap?
from Wes H.

Howdy. I have perused this site from time to time and found it interesting.

I have had Psoriasis for about 11 years now (I am now 42).  It started after a case of strep throat. I have tried just about everything in the arsenal and have had varying degrees of short lived success.  Soriatane worked best until my liver functions got out of control and I had to stop.  Light treatments — both narrowband and wideband B — have helped me maintain about a 15% body coverage. I used the Skin-Cap in the past and had amazing results and an amazing rebound after discontinuing use. 

This brings me to Aveeno. I saw what was supposedly an ingredients list for Skin-Cap without the steroids and kind of kept it in the back of my mind. Aveeno, with 1% hydrocortisone, seems to mimic the supposed ingredients of Skin-Cap with oatmeal thrown in for good measure.  I purchased a tube of this cream and decided to put it to the test.  

I am now 3 days into the test and have seen a noticeable improvement in the lesions on my hands (where I applied the Aveeno cream).  I will continue using it on my hands only to see if the improvement continues.

Interestingly I have been prescribed both Temovate and OLUX foam in the past and these high strength steroids have done nothing for me. I think the Isopropyl Myristate causes the active ingredients to penetrate through to the underlying strata and become effective as compared to steroids alone. Time will tell.  -Wes H.

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Ed’s Response:  Interesting, Wes.  Please do keep us informed about your continued response to Aveeno cream. 

I remember back in the Skin-Cap Flap days, after the unmentioned steroid (clobetasol propionate) was discovered in the product and there was this great collective rolling of eyes —  So THAT’s why it’s been working so well! — a few people continued to scratch their heads (figuratively speaking, this time) and wondered quietly if the clobetasol was really the total answer to the phenomenal success so many people had with Skin-Cap.  I remember some of the whispered conversations:  No, it’s got to have something to do with the base, the delivery system, how it penetrates the lesions.... 

You may be on to something, Wes, especially since the illegally hidden active ingredient in Skin-Cap (the clobetasol propionate), to which you responded well, is also the active ingredient in Temovate, to which you haven’t responded well.  What’s the difference?  Well, for one, the base.  (Perhaps there was a strength difference, too.) 

Some of us dismiss the over-the-counter remedies too quickly — because there are so many of them we’ve found not to be effective.  But the upside to OTC products that we owe it to ourselves NOT to forget, is that they are usually inexpensive enough to allow experimentation. 

Also, P lesions on our hands can be particularly stubborn.  When my hand lesions were flaring, I could never “sit still” long enough during the day to keep a greasy ointment on them.  Washing my hands for this or that reason — really, all the things we do with our hands that we don’t think about — meant I probably didn’t give most meds the chance they needed to work.  Ultimately I learned that my only effective way to combat hand lesions with topical medications was to occlude them, over night, in food handler’s gloves.  So I went to bed a lot of nights looking like I was ready to make sandwiches at the neighborhood deli. 

I’m looking forward to hearing how things progress with the Aveeno. -Ed

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