Tuesday, 19 August 2025
People with eczema are being invited to take part in a new study that explores how best to control eczema flare-ups.
The ‘Keep Control of Eczema’ study, in partnership with researchers from University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
An eczema flare-up is often experienced as intense itching that needs treatment to control the inflammation in the skin.
When treating eczema flare-ups, it is not always clear how long people should treat it for. Some people find it hard to know when to stop using their steroid creams. If they stop too soon, the eczema may come back quickly, but using for too long can lead to unwanted side-effects.
This study will test if it is helpful to give specific advice about how long to treat flare-ups for. It is testing the idea that treating for slightly longer could help keep eczema controlled for longer.
The Keep Control of Eczema Study is a randomised, controlled trial, that needs to recruit 450 people with eczema (aged one year and above). The study is being conducted online so there are no study visits and no need to travel to take part. Participants will use their usual steroid creams during the study. To be eligible, they must have used their steroid creams at least three times in the last 8 weeks.
Participants are randomised to either a specific advice group - ‘Treat for longer’ or the ‘Treat as usual’ group - use steroid creams during a flare-up as you normally would.
The people taking part in the study will be asked to fill in questionnaires weekly to assess their use of steroid creams and how their eczema has been.
Topical corticosteroids have been used to treat eczema for over 60 years. I find it amazing that this simple question about how long you should use steroid creams for to get best results has never been tested before. This study is long overdue, and I’m delighted that we will finally be able to answer this important question for people living with eczema.”
The Keep Control Study is part of a wider project – the Rapid Eczema Trials research project - that aims to answer important questions on how to manage eczema. The Rapid Eczema Trials project has created a community of citizen scientists who are interested in answering questions about eczema. Together, these citizen scientists have prioritised and co-designed a series of online research studies to address questions that are important to them.
People with eczema, their families and healthcare professional who treat them are encouraged to join the community from across the UK and over 1,000 people have already signed up.
Amanda Roberts, a patient with eczema, said: “It is so exciting to see citizen scientists creating studies that answer important questions that really matter to those living with eczema. This is being done through high quality randomised trials that would not be funded through other means.”
The Rapid Eczema trials research project is led by researchers at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and is being delivered in collaboration with another four UK Universities (Southampton, Bristol, Birmingham City, Imperial) and the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit.
More information on how to sign up for the study can be found here: https://rapideczematrials.org/keep-control-study/
Story credits
More information is available from Professor Kim Thomas kim.thomas@nottingham.ac.uk or Mrs Amanda Roberts amanda.roberts@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 97 in the world and 17th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
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We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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