Ointment Vs. Cream

Shelly went to a dermatologist, to have herself examined for a skin disorder. She was prescribed a dermatological cream. When she went to the drug store, she found out that the medication prescribed to her was available in ointment as well as cream form. She was wondering what is the difference between the medication, that is in ointment and in cream form. She is now torn between ointment and cream dilemma and is not able to understand, which of the two is better for her. Let's help find an answer to her problem.

Topical medication is the most common form of treatment for most of the skin disorders. Like Shelly was prescribed a cream and she also found there is ointment form available of the same topical medication. So that brings us to the question, what is the difference between ointment and cream. First let's understand that both of them are used to treat skin ailments only. Apart from cream and ointment there are three types of topical dermatological applications available in the market. They are lotion, gel and paste.

Difference Between Ointment and Cream

To understand the ointment vs. cream debate better, we will first see what is a cream and what is an ointment. This will make the difference between the both of them more clear.

Cream
Cream is a semisolid emulsion or suspension. It normally contains less than 50% of hydrocarbons. The other characteristic of creams is, that it is opaque, viscous, non-greasy to mildly greasy. When cream is often applied on to the skin, it mostly evaporates or it is absorbed into the skin. Creams can either be hydrophilic (in other words it often has a water base) or lipophilic in nature. More often than not it is a preparation of oil (or lanolin or petroleum) in water.

Ointment
Like creams ointments are also semisolid emulsions or suspension. The other similarity ointment has with cream is that, it can also be opaque or translucent, viscous or greasy. The similarities between ointment and cream end there. Ointments contain more than 50% of hydrocarbons and it tends not to evaporate or be absorbed into the skin, when applied. The base used to make ointment is oil, in other words, it is a preparation of water in oil.

Ointment Vs. Cream
To make the difference between ointment and cream more evident, we will see the specific percentage of water and oil present in both ointment and cream. An ointment normally consists of 80% oil and 20% water. Whereas the percentage ratio of water is to oil in creams is 50:50. However, there are some topical cream products, which may have much lower oil component as well.

The next differentiating factor is the spreadability factor. Ointments are greasier in nature and also have thicker consistencies. Hence, you may find it difficult to spread ointments over large areas of the skin. Creams on the other hand are lighter in consistencies, hence often work better to cover large areas.

The next differentiating factor is the absorbing factor. Creams are absorbed into the skin. Whereas ointments stay longer on the surface of the skin and not get absorbed into the skin. Hence ointments are often prescribed for dry skin, as they keep the skin moist for a longer period of time, thereby promoting healing faster. Whereas due to high water content in creams, they cause the skin to dry up faster. Therefore, they are a better option for greasy and oily skin.

From the differences between ointment and cream points that we have just read, it is clear that the difference between creams and ointments lies in the different water and oil content in both of them. Your doctor is the best judge of your condition, hence it is important to follow the advice of your doctor itself. In case you have queries, have them answered by your doctor, but do not be your own doctor.