Clinician

Oily and dry can both be true.

What to say and what to ask. This page does not diagnose, prescribe, or sell a cream.

This page does not diagnose or prescribe. It is a prompt sheet you can take to a clinician you already trust. MenoDerm cannot book an appointment and does not recommend starting, stopping, or changing HRT or any other treatment.

Say

Bring the ordinary details. They matter more than a paper.

• “I am reading a forehead Sebumeter study from the first decade after menopause, not a cream trial.”
• “The claim I care about is: sebum excretion can fall on average in untreated women while still varying widely between women, so oily and dry reports can both be true.”
• “The authors say HRT softens some changes but does not significantly control seborrhea.”
• “I also saw an open HRT study with about 7–15% greater thickness by site and about 35% higher casual sebum in treated women, while hydration was not different.”
• Where it happens, what you already use, and any prescribed creams or hormones you are already on. Do not change them from this site.

Ask

• These pages cite Piérard-Franchimont 2002 (forehead Sebumeter; first post-menopause decade; about 50 untreated and 50 on HRT). How should I read average decline plus wide between-woman spread for my exam?
• The paper concludes HRT does not simply control seborrhea. How do you talk about oil complaints in women who are already on HRT?
• Callens 1996 is open and non-randomized (about 7–15% greater thickness by site; about 35% higher casual sebum in treated women in that study; hydration not different). What does that tell us about dryness that is not sebum?
• I am not asking MenoDerm for a product (there is none) or for an HRT start/stop decision. I want help matching my reports to exam and history.

Must not

This copy must not prescribe a brand, sell a cream, start or stop HRT, or diagnose.

Go sooner

Contact a clinician promptly (same day or urgent care if that is what is available) for a spreading rash, pus, fever, painful cracking, bleeding, or new involvement of the eyes, genitals, or large areas of skin. Seek emergency help now for trouble breathing, swelling of the lips, tongue, or throat, faintness, severe eye pain or vision changes, blistering, or rapidly worsening skin. If you think a prescribed cream or hormone therapy is involved, contact the prescriber promptly; do not change it from this site.