14 Month Old With Eczema

Hi,

My 14 month old has eczema on his chin (really bad) and a few spots on the back of his legs. He used to have it on his cheeks, but that seems much better.

I was told to use hydrocortisone 2xs a day to treat it. I actually asked the doctor about the warnings I heard about and read with the cream, but was told that the low % sold over the counter wouldn't do that so to keep using it.

Recently, I was just told by an allergist I took my boy to, that it in fact does cause harm! Thankfully, I've never used it for a prolonged period of time anyway, but I have been using it for several months off and on.

So my question is how do I know if any damage was caused internally or externally? How long do you have to be using the cream before these side effects set in?

Thank you.
concerned mommy...