Kids Using Steroid Cream at Risk of Glaucoma

I have mentioned before on this blog about the risk of eye complications with topical steroid usage. This was made painfully aware to me when a young teenage skin-friend had to have cataract surgery due to complications from using steroid creams for her eczema.

Despite this, I read of a case on the Itsan forum today where a patient asked their doctor about cataract risk and the doctor denied that steroids cause cataracts! Google "steroid induced cataracts" and you will find lots of evidence that can be printed off to show any GP or dermatologist that doesn't know about this.

Today I discovered an article online that shows that kids who use topical steroids are also at risk from glaucoma. Yes, it seems that as well as steroid-induced cataracts, we should also be worried about steroid-induced glaucoma too.

Eyesight is precious. If you know anyone who regularly uses steroid cream or has a child that uses steroid cream, encourage them to have regular eye check ups to ensure that their medication isn't causing any nasty side effects, especially if they use these creams around the eyes or on the face.

ITSAN on Instagram

For those of you that use Instragram, you can now access the dedicated Itsan Instagram site and follow, tag or share Itsan. The Instagram profile name is @itsan.nonprofit.

Many thanks to fellow blogger Heather for setting up the site. You can follow Heather on her eczemancipated blog and also on her guest spot at just glowing with health, where she is doing a raw vegan food challenge to raise awareness of TSW, as well as sharing some yummy healthy recipes!

Latest Scholarly Article about Children And Topical Steroid Withdrawal

Another resource for you to print out and share with doctors, dermatologists and medical professionals.

A Systematic Review of Topical Steroid Withdrawal in Children Diagnosed with Eczema


The article may be the first of its kind in methodology and subject matter and the results will hopefully make researchers and doctors want to work on more effective measures for prevention, early detection, and treatment of TSA/TSW in children and adults.  

Amazon Smile: An Easy Way to Donate to Itsan

I'd actually forgot about this, but a while ago, Itsan set up a link to Amazon Smile, which means that anyone registering with Amazon can select Itsan as a nominated charity and they can receive a small percentage from all purchases.

As far as I know, it only works with purchases from Amazon.com, so users outside of the U.S. will not be able to use it unless they are shipping items.

I hope this link can be used by blog readers, as it has the potential to help Itsan by users buying what they normally would anyway.

Please nominate Itsan as your chosen charity on Amazon Smile today. It won't cost you anything but it will really help Itsan reach more people and spread the word about TSW.

Update at 42 Months With Photos

TSW is slow. Painfully slow. I'd been doing so well up until December 2014 and then  I hit a flare that never really went away. previously healed areas like my legs started flaring again and also, unusually, my hands, which up until recently had been problem-free.

I've been steadily improving since the weather has changed, but improvements are gradual and I'm still not fully healed. I thought I'd post today's photos next to the last ones so you could compare them. The "befores" are from my 40 month update; two months ago.

I'm now 3 and a half years into TSW.

As you can see, my neck has calmed down a lot. Movement has improved considerably and the oozing has stopped.

My arm isn't so tight and dry now on the elbow crease and the rash is much paler, almost gone.

The red demarcation line on my hand has disappeared, but there is still some puffiness compared to how my hand normally looks.

My face is a bit pink still, but not as rashy. The skin doesn't feel tight anymore and flaking is not a problem right now.


So you can see some good improvements here and I generally seem to be moving in the right direction again. I'm still having some sleep issues and my allergies are acting up because it's pollen season.

I have some good news about my inhaler too. I'm still having to use a steroid inhaler for my bad asthma, but the nurse has allowed me to go down from a 125 dose to a 50 dose. I'm doing OK on the new dose, but I suppose the real test will be in winter. I'm just happy that I have less steroid load going into my body, as I'm sure it has an impact on my recovery. For now, I can't live without it though and breathing is a necessary part of life!

Hope you enjoyed my update. I'd love to be posting completely healed photos, but this is the best I can do for now.

Hugs to all the brave TSW warriors.