A mother I've been dealing with has had various diagnoses for her nipple troubles. I sent her the following link to Dr. Newman's ointment recipe http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/3b.html which she took to her dermatologist. The mom reports that her dermatologist "didn't agree with the medications in the ointment. She said there are 7 types of cortisones, 1 being the strongest and 7 being the weakest. The cortisone in Dr. Newman's ointment is a 2 and the one prescribed for me is a 6. She said she would never prescribe such a strong cortisone for the breast area since that's such a delicate area." The dermatologist warned against thinning of skin (I've heard of that with steroids before) and development of stretch marks with extended use. Please educate me, those of you with steroid and APNO training and experience: 1. Is betamethasone in a .05% concentration truly "big guns" as far as steroids go? 2. Is the thinning of skin a permanent or temporary effect? This mom seemed concerned that there would be implications for skin strength as she ages. What do you know about steroids and stretch marks? 3. Do you recommend APNO often? How long do you usually recommend a mom use APNO? Why? In other words, do you have anything in particular to say about appropriate terms and risks vs. benefits of its use? Many thanks, Ruth Piatak, LLL Leader Plano, TX *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html