Is Your Medication Causing Skin Damage? Discover if Yours Made the List of Skin-Thinning Medications

Skin damage can speed up signs of skin aging and keep your skin from doing its job. There are steps you can take to protect your skin, like wearing sunscreen and not smoking. But what happens when things that are supposed to keep you healthy — like your daily medications — start to damage your skin? 

Some medications can cause skin thinning. This is a type of skin damage that also speeds up other signs of skin aging. 

Can medications speed up signs of aging?

Yes. Some medications can contribute to signs of skin aging. 

When it comes to skin aging, there are a lot of things you may probably know about, like wrinkles and sagging skin. You may also know that genetics and even daily habits can affect the speed of skin aging. 

But what many people may not know is that medications can cause signs of skin aging, too. This is especially true for medications that cause skin thinning. Thin skin has less collagen, so it’s more likely to get fine lines and wrinkles. 

These medications also put you at risk for other skin changes like:

• Dryness

• Easy bruising

• Color and tone changes

Below is a list of medications that cause skin thinning. But before diving in, keep in mind that not everyone responds in the same way to medications. This means that not everyone develops skin thinning. Regardless, it’s important to know whether your medication puts you at risk so you can take steps to protect your skin. 

What medications cause skin thinning?

Steroids are the medications most likely to cause skin thinning. Millions of people depend on steroids to treat a wide range of medical conditions. While they can be life saving, steroids can also cause a wide range of side effects. 

For example, steroids stop the body from making collagen. Collagen is a protein that keeps skin, hair, and nails healthy, strong, and resilient. Without collagen, skin starts to stretch, tear, and thin out. 

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All forms of steroids can lead to skin thinning and damage, including those listed below.

Prednisone

Prednisone is a steroid that people take by mouth. Prednisone can be used to treat flare-ups from asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). It’s also used to treat flares from autoimmune conditions like lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. The longer you take prednisone, the more likely you are to develop side effects, like skin thinning. 

Prednisone is one of the most commonly prescribed oral steroids. But it isn’t the only one that causes skin thinning. Other oral steroids like prednisolone, betamethasone, and dexamethasone can also cause skin thinning when they’re used for a long time.

Asthma and COPD inhalers

Daily asthma and COPD inhalers are called “controller medications.” They’re meant to be used every day to keep people from developing asthma and COPD flares. When used correctly, they keep people’s lungs healthy. 

But steroids are a key component to daily inhalers. They control lung inflammation and stop flares. Inhaled steroids can also lead to skin thinning in about half of the people who take them. Higher-dose inhaled steroids are more likely to cause skin thinning. Some examples of inhaled steroids are:

• Budesonide (Pulmicort)

• Fluticasone (Flovent, ArmonAir Digihaler, Arnuity Ellipta)

• Beclomethasone (Qvar)

• Mometasone (Asmanex HFA, Asmanex Twisthaler)

• Fluticasone/salmeterol (Advair Diskus, Wixela Inhub)

• Budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort)

• Fluticasone/vilanterol (Breo Ellipta)

• Mometasone/formoterol (Dulera)

• Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone/umeclidinium/vilanterol)

Steroid creams and ointments

Steroid creams and ointments are an important part of many people’s treatment plans. 

Topical steroids help treat many skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis. But they can also calm inflammation from short-term skin conditions like ringworm and irritation allergies like nickel allergy and poison ivy. 

But before you reach for that over-the-counter (OTC) hydrocortisone cream, keep in mind that topical steroids can cause skin thinning and other changes like discoloration. Skin changes are more common with higher-potency steroid creams. But even low-strength steroid creams, like the kind available OTC, can cause skin changes. 

Examples of topical steroids include:

• Hydrocortisone 

• Betamethasone

• Clobetasol

• Fluocinolone

• Mometasone

• Triamcinolone

Steroid injections

If you have any type of arthritis or chronic joint or back pain, you may be familiar with steroid injections. Steroid injections are medical treatments where a healthcare provider uses a needle to inject steroids directly into the joint space. This calms inflammation and relieves pain and swelling. This helps people move without pain.

But even though the steroids go directly into the joint, they can still affect the skin nearby. Steroid injections can lead to changes like skin thinning around the injection site. 

Dr. Maria Hannaway, a board-certified dermatologist at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, notes that steroid injections can even cause indentations in the skin.

Can you reverse skin thinning caused by steroid medications?

No. But there’s some promising research on treatments that can help support thin skin:

• One research study found that a topical medication similar to spironolactone was able to help improve skin thinning from steroid use. 

• Other studies have found hyaluronic acid fillers or even retinol treatments can help lessen skin thinning. There’s also some evidence that collagen supplements can help, too.

Dr. Hannaway notes that for those with steroid indentations to the skin, saline injections can help even out skin.

There are other steps you can take to support and protect your skin like:

• Always wear sunscreen, and try other ways to protect yourself from the sun. 

• Consider a supplement containing polypodium leucotomos extract, which may help lower the risk of sun-related skin damage when used with sunscreen.

• Protect yourself from falls and injuries, since thin skin is more prone to bleeding and bruising.

• Keep your skin hydrated with a good moisturizer. This will help your skin’s elasticity and protect it from drying out. Look for ingredients like petroleum, glycerin, and ceramides. These ingredients protect and restore the upper layer of the skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Jennifer Clements, MD, MSEd, NBHWC

Jennifer Clements, MD, MSEd, NBHWC, is a board-certified physician and health coach who is passionate about achieving optimal health through healthy lifestyles. Clements is a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Integrative Medicine.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

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