If you have just started tretinoin for acne, it is natural to check your skin every day and wonder when it will start to help. Tretinoin is a prescription retinoid cream used to treat acne[1]. It works, but it works slowly, and your skin may look worse before it looks better. So how long does…
When a patch of eczema or psoriasis flares up, the itch and redness can make it hard to think about anything else. Triamcinolone cream is one of the prescription creams used to settle a flare-up like that. Triamcinolone acetonide cream is a corticosteroid cream used to relieve the inflammation and itching of skin conditions that…
If you have eczema and steroid creams have not worked well enough for you, or are not a good fit for the area you need to treat, you may have been told about pimecrolimus cream. Pimecrolimus 1% cream, sold under the brand name Elidel, is a non-steroid prescription cream used to treat mild to moderate…
If you have patches of itchy, irritated skin that keep coming back, you may be wondering whether it is eczema or psoriasis. The two are easy to confuse. Both are long-lasting conditions linked to the immune system, both come and go in flare-ups, and neither is contagious[1][2][3]. Knowing the signs of eczema vs psoriasis helps…
If you get cold sores or genital herpes, you have probably seen acyclovir offered in more than one form. Acyclovir is an antiviral medicine for herpes outbreaks, and it comes as a cream, an ointment and tablets. The cream and the ointment sound alike, but in the US they are approved for different jobs. Acyclovir…
If you have just tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI), or think you might have one, the first question is usually whether it will go away. The CDC says every STI can be treated with medicine, and some can be cured completely.[1] Which STDs are curable comes down to what causes them. Chlamydia,…
If you think you might have chlamydia, a quick trip to the drugstore can seem like the easiest fix. But there is no over-the-counter chlamydia treatment that cures it. The same is true for gonorrhea and trichomoniasis. All three are cured with prescription medicine.[1][2][3] The good news is that a prescription does not have to…
If you can feel a familiar tingle on your lip, or a blister has already appeared, the first thing you probably want to know is how long cold sores last. Without treatment, most clear up on their own in 1 to 2 weeks,[1] although some take up to 3 weeks.[2] Cold sores are caused by…
Many people put off getting treated for a common infection because they cannot find time for an appointment, even a video one. An online doctor visit without video is a recognized way to get care, and it is how Starfish.com works. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls it asynchronous telehealth, or “store…
Symptoms can narrow it down. They cannot settle it. The most useful clue is smell and texture. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) usually means thin, grayish discharge with a fishy smell and not much itching. A yeast infection usually means thick, clumpy discharge with little or no smell and a lot of itching. Those are tendencies, not…
