Diprosalic ointment

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How does it work?

This medicine contains two active ingredients, betamethasone dipropionate and salicylic acid. Betamethasone diproprionate is a type of medicine called a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are medicines used for reducing inflammation. Inflammation of the skin happens due to the irritation of the skin, and is caused by the release of various substances that are important in the immune system. These substances cause blood vessels to widen, resulting in the irritated area becoming red, swollen, itchy and painful. When betamethasone is applied to the skin it works by acting inside the skin cells to decrease the release of these inflammatory substances. This reduces swelling, redness and itch. Betamethasone is a potent corticosteroid that is applied to the skin to treat a wide variety of inflammatory skin diseases, such as eczema. Salicylic acid is type of medicine called a keratolytic. It works by breaking down keratin, which is a protein that forms part of the skin structure. In conditions such as psoriasis and chronic eczema, excessive amounts of keratin in the skin cells causes these cells to harden, and makes the skin become thickened and scaly. This not only makes the skin itchy and inflamed, but also reduces the degree to which anti-inflammatory medicines can penetrate through the skin to treat the inflammation. Salicylic acid breaks down the keratin in the hardened and thickened skin, helping to shed skin cells from the area to which it is applied, and soften and improve the appearance of scaly skin. It also helps improve the penetration of the betamethasone into the skin, making it more effective than if the betamethasone was applied on its own. The combination of betamethasone and salicyclic acid in this medicine is therefore used to treat dry, scaly, inflammatory skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis, where the thickened skin could otherwise prevent absorption of the corticosteroid. Diprosalic is available as an ointment and a scalp application. The ointment is more suitable for skin on the body, such as chronic psoriasis of the hands and feet, while the scalp application is a thinner lotion used mainly to treat psoriasis of the scalp.

What is it used for?

- Dry, scaly, inflamed skin conditions
- Eczema
- Psoriasis

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