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Eczema baths 'waste NHS money'
Bath products that help to ease the symptoms of allergic eczema may not be worth the amount of money the NHS spends on them, a study has found.
An article published in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin says that the NHS spends £16 million on bath emollients each year, but argues that this spending is unjustified because there is no clinical evidence to show that the emollients actually work.
The article's authors say that 'long clinical experience has suggested that emollients applied directly to the skin are effective and safe'. However, they highlight the lack of similar evidence for bath emollients, which are thought to be an easier way of applying the treatment, adding that they could potentially cause accidents by making bath tubs slippery.
However, the National Eczema Society accused the researchers of ignoring 'the extensive evidence from those patients and parents who find the use of bath emollients both soothing and extremely beneficial', according to BBC News.
The British Association of Dermatologists recommends the use of emollient baths. Its president Colin Holden told the BBC that 'an absence of evidence does not equate with evidence of absence'.
Category: Healthcare
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