When you have a persistent skin condition like eczema or vitiligo, finding a treatment that provides lasting relief can be challenging. While steroid creams have been a standard solution for years, a different approach using a compoundable medication called Tacrolimus is gaining traction. This blog will explore what Tacrolimus is, how it works, and why it might be a beneficial long-term option for certain skin conditions.In this article, we’ll explore:
- What is Tacrolimus?
- How Does Tacrolimus Work?
- Tacrolimus Versus Topical Steroids
- What to Expect When Using Tacrolimus
- Tips For Using Tacrolimus
What is Tacrolimus?
Tacrolimus is a powerful medication used in compounding to treat inflammatory skin conditions in both children and adults. It belongs to a class of drugs known as topical immunomodulators.
How Does Tacrolimus Work?
Your immune system is designed to respond to threats, but sometimes it can overreact, causing chronic inflammation on the skin. This can lead to symptoms like redness, lumps, itchiness, and swelling.
Tacrolimus works by calming down specific immune cells called T-cells at the skin’s surface. By reducing the inflammatory signals these cells release, Tacrolimus can help to:
- Decrease itchiness and swelling
- Reduce the frequency of flare-ups
- Resolve skin problems, sometimes permanently, after the immune response is controlled
Because it targets the underlying immune response, Tacrolimus is often used for conditions like eczema (atopic dermatitis) and vitiligo where immune system overactivity is a key factor.
Tacrolimus Versus Topical Steroids
Many people are familiar with steroid creams like Hydrocortisone, which have been used for decades to treat skin inflammation. While effective, long-term or consistent use of topical steroids can carry risks, the most notable of which is skin thinning.
Tacrolimus offers a valuable alternative because it does not have this same side effect. Its different mechanism of action makes it a safer option for prolonged use, particularly in sensitive areas or for chronic conditions.
Tacrolimus offers a valuable alternative because it does not have this same side effect. Its different mechanism of action makes it a safer option for prolonged use, particularly in sensitive areas or for chronic conditions.
What to Expect When Using Tacrolimus
When you first start using a compounded Tacrolimus product, you might notice some initial skin sensitivity during the first few days as your body adjusts. This is a normal part of the process and generally subsides.
Additionally, if you spend a lot of time in the sun, it’s important to take precautions. Inflamed skin is already sensitive, and Tacrolimus can increase this sensitivity. We recommend using:
- Broad-spectrum sunscreen
- Hats and long-sleeved clothing
These measures will help protect your skin and prevent flare-ups while you are undergoing treatment.
Tips For Using Tacrolimus
For the best results, always use Tacrolimus as prescribed by your doctor. The dosage, frequency, and specific form (cream or ointment) will be tailored to your condition. Your doctor may consult a compounding pharmacist to ensure the most suitable preparation is created for you.
It’s also important to consider other products you use on your skin, such as soaps, shampoos, and cleansers. Many commercially available products contain fragrances and harsh chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin, counteracting the effects of the medication. Opt for a gentle, fragrance-free, soap-free alternative to help keep the skin neutral and give it the best chance to heal.
Tacrolimus is a prescription-only medication and requires a doctor’s prescription, so a consultation with your healthcare provider is the essential first step. It is an excellent option for those with persistent inflammatory skin conditions, especially when long-term treatment is needed.
Video Transcript
Tacrolimus is a really interesting drug. It’s been around in healthcare for a while. And compounding pharmacies like ourselves in the last few years have recently had an increased demand for it being used generally in topical creams or ointments for children and adults. So point one what is tacrolimus? It’s a topical immunomodulator. So this is basically something that is used to change the reaction at a topical skin level that your immune system is having to a cause. It could be a cause, it could be a skin based cause. And basically the drug itself works by calming these things called T cells, which are part of your immune system down and the T cells release inflammatory signals. And what that means when you’re looking at your skin is if you’re seeing lumps, redness, sore, all that type of thing, that’s generally what happens after your immune system detects and essentially hunts down and isolates the reaction on the skin level so we can compound into things, like I said, creams, ointments and generally conditions like eczema. So atopic dermatitis or vitiligo are situations where a compounded tacrolimus product might be really beneficial, especially because there is a very limited supply of commercial alternatives. One of the cool things that tacrolimus does, obviously, is by modulating your immune system just on the skin level, it actually will reduce what you can see the problem to be. So that’s as simple as it will reduce itchiness. It’ll reduce swelling. And hopefully once you’ve been using the product for a little while, you’ll find that flare ups are a little less uncommon. And once you’ve resolved that immune response, sometimes those skin problems can be gone and not return. So why would you use tacrolimus as opposed to a topical steroid? You’re all probably familiar with hydrocortisone, which is an everyday steroid cream. Steroid creams are really good again. They’ve been around for a long time. The challenge for steroid creams is if they’re used consistently, there is a real risk that they’ll thin the skin just by the nature of how the product works. Tacrolimus, because it’s not the same type of active ingredient, doesn’t have that same side effect, which is helpful. Again, if you’re using steroids for a long period of time, obviously make sure it’s under doctor guidance. But tacrolimus is beneficial because the data that surrounds it for topical use in these conditions I just mentioned are generally safer for long term. So if you’ve got kids who are suffering from persistent skin conditions, obviously you need a doctor’s prescription for tacrolimus. So that’s one of the really important things to consider. But basically, long term use is a better alternative for tacrolimus than anything else, which includes steroids, especially in sensitive areas. So what would you expect when you use tacrolimus? In the first few days, while your body adapts to the application of that drug topically, you might feel a little bit more of increased sensitivity. The skin might appear or change how it commonly looks. This is probably less likely when you’ve got a really large problem on the skin that you’re using the tacrolimus to treat. But look, if you notice your skin appears slightly differently, this can just be an adjustment process in the first few days. But some of the things that you might really want to consider is if you’re in a state that sees a lot of sun, then and you go outside a lot while you’re treating your skin with these types of products, you just want to be really careful about excessive sun exposure, because your skin is already got a problem going on with the eczema or atopic dermatitis, you might find that sun really affects it. You use the tacrolimus, which might increase the skin sensitivity. And this therefore sunlight might increase the you know anything towards it more. We recommend using things like sunscreens, long t shirts, hats that type of stuff. Don’t avoid the sun. Just be mindful when you’re out in it, because we don’t want the skin to flare up any worse than it currently is while being treated. So again, the key thing is use it as prescribed. Your doctor will generally talk to one of our compounding pharmacists just to make sure that the dosage form. So whether it’s a cream or an ointment is appropriate. They’ll also give you some instructions on where to use it, how frequently they use it, and just a little take home message too. Is while you’re treating a topical skin product, just be really conscious and think about the other products at home that you’re using to clean with. And it could be as simple as you know, if your kids have got a skin condition, which is very inflammatory and tacrolimus is helping, think about the soaps or bath washes or shampoos that you’re using. Sometimes these contain lovely smelling chemicals which appear nice, but in actual fact, they’re not all that suitable because what you’ll find is those fragrances can be really irritating. So go for a non soap containing wash alternative. There’s a few really solid brands around and that’ll just help to keep things nice and neutral again, giving you the best chance or giving the kids the best chance for the skin to start repairing itself once it’s repaired itself and hopefully removed itself of the problem that was causing all that inflammation and irritation. Things can go on and everything will be okay. Never be afraid to reach out to us if you’ve got questions. Tacrolimus is only on doctor’s advice. It requires a prescription from a compounding pharmacy, so keep that in mind. But look, there’s some really good opportunities for its use. I hope this has given you a bit of an insight into when it’s appropriate, how to use it. If you’ve got any questions, give us a call. At National Custom Compounding. Our pharmacists and team are always there to help.
