Desonide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Desonide is a corticosteroid sold in the U.S. under 4 brand and generic names, for facial dermatoses, foot dermatoses and hand dermatoses. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Corticosteroid
- Treats (across its forms)
- Facial Dermatoses, Foot Dermatoses and Hand Dermatoses
- Available as
- Topical · Spray/Inhaler
- Sold as
- 4 products — Desonide, Desonate and Desowen, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.28 per gm — not your price
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How Desowen is dosed
From the FDA label for Desowen (application NDA019048). Other desonide products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Desonide Cream or Lotion should be applied to the affected areas as a thin film two or three times daily depending on the severity of the condition. SHAKE LOTION WELL BEFORE USING. As with other corticosteroids, therapy should be discontinued when control is achieved. If no improvement is seen within 2 weeks, reassessment of diagnosis may be necessary. Desonide Cream and Lotion should not be used with occlusive dressings.
Everything below is the FDA label for Desowen (topical). Desonide is also sold as spray/inhaler, and those are different medicines to take — follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Desowen side effects
In controlled clinical trials, the total incidence of adverse reactions associated with the use of desonide was approximately 8%. These were: stinging and burning approximately 3%, irritation, contact dermatitis, condition worsened, peeling of skin, itching, intense transient erythema, and dryness/scaliness, each less than 2%. The following additional local adverse reactions have been reported infrequently with other topical corticosteroids, and they may occur more frequently with the use of occlusive dressings, especially with higher potency corticosteroids. These reactions are listed in an approximate decreasing order of occurrence: folliculitis, acneiform eruptions, hypopigmentation, perioral dermatitis, secondary infection, skin atrophy, striae, and miliaria.
Who shouldn’t take Desowen
Desonide Cream and Lotion are contraindicated in those patients with a history of hypersensitivity to any of the components of the preparations.
Every desonide product we track (4)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Topical | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Topical | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Topical | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 4 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Topical | Generic | $0 | View → |
Combination products containing desonide
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
How long desonide keeps
No desonide label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does desonide expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsDesonide and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for desonide: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadDesonide has not been studied during breastfeeding. Since only extensive application of the most potent corticosteroids may cause systemic effects in the mother, it is unlikely that short-term application of topical corticosteroids would pose a risk to the breastfed infant by passage into breastmilk. However, it would be prudent to use the least potent drug on the smallest area of skin possible. It is particularly important to ensure that the infant's skin does not come into direct contact with the areas of skin that have been treated. Only water-miscible cream or gel products should be applied to the breast because ointments may expose the infant to high levels of mineral paraffins via licking. Desonide cream or foam are acceptable to use on the nipple. Any topical corticosteroid should be wiped off thoroughly prior to nursing if it is being applied to the breast or nipple area.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised January 18, 2021. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about desonide
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 5,246 reports naming desonide, and the FDA flagged 55% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- macular degeneration794 reports
- nausea388 reports
- pruritus362 reports
- rash351 reports
- erythema336 reports
- headache333 reports
- pyrexia318 reports
- malaise291 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean desonide caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is Desowen?
Desonide Cream 0.05% and Lotion 0.05% contain desonide (Pregna-1,4-diene-3,20-dione,11,21-dihydroxy-16,17-[(1-methylethylidene)bis(oxy)]-,(11β,16α)- a synthetic nonfluorinated corticosteroid for topical dermatologic use. The corticosteroids constitute a class of primarily synthetic steroids used topically as anti-inflammatory and anti-pruritic agents.
What kind of drug is desonide?
The FDA classifies desonide as a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids mimic the body's natural stress hormone cortisol: they enter cells and bind a glucocorticoid receptor that switches off genes for inflammatory chemicals, calming swelling, redness, and an overactive immune response. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take desonide with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run desonide against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is desonide sold under?
We track 4 desonide-containing products in the U.S.: Desonide, Desonate, Desowen and Verdeso. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does desonide come in?
Across the brands we track, desonide is currently marketed as topical and spray/inhaler, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic desonide?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic desonide product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Desonide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/desonide
- MLA
- “Desonide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/desonide.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for desonide on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.