Essentials of Diseases of the Skin / Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine

by Henry Weightman Stelwagon

Is it usually necessary to change from one external remedy to another in the course of treatment?

Yes. After a certain time one remedy, as a rule, loses its effect, and a change from lotion to ointment or the reverse, and from one lotion or ointment to another, will often be found necessary in order to bring about continuous improvement.

Name the various important remedies and combinations employed in the external treatment of acne.

Sulphur is the most valuable. It may often be applied with benefit as a simple ointment:—

℞ Sulphur, præcip., ................................ ʒss-ʒj
Adipis benz.
Lanolin, .....................āā.................. ʒij.

Or it may be used as a lotion, as in the annexed formula:—

℞ Sulphur, præcip., ................................ ʒiss
Pulv. tragacanthæ, ............................... gr. x1
Pulv. camphoræ, .................................. gr. xx
Liq. calcis,........ q.s. ad. ................... f℥iv. M.

Another lotion, especially useful in those cases in which an oily condition of the skin is present, is the following:—

℞ Sulphur, præcip., ................................ ʒiss
Etheris, ........................................ fʒiv
Alcoholis, ...................................... f℥iijss. M.

A compound lotion containing sulphur in one of its combinations is also valuable in many cases:—