I'm glad I could help. I'm always learning about this type of thing. Cortisone has its place and I use it when necessary for very itchy and irritated skin. It reduces the inflammation as nothing else can.
Another thing for you to consider is an allantion based product. It might be something that might help if you don't need the heavy-duty itch and irritation fighting ability of hydrocortisone. My husband had radiation treatment which left scar tissue on some delicate private parts. He has had good results with a product called Mederma. It's a clear water-based gel with allantoin as the active ingredient.
I found research that supports Mederma's claim that allantoin helps to reduce or minimize scar tissue and aid in general healing of the skin and is reasonably safe for long term use. It's not an instant cure for scar tissue, but daily long-term use doesn't seem to have ill effects and seems to gradually help.
Allantoin is a product you can buy as an additive for home crafted products. I believe I got mine from Lotioncrafter. The one thing about allantoin is that it is only slightly soluble in water, so you have to be careful to not use too much and to get what you do use properly dissolved into solution. If you don't, the lotion will be gritty and I'm not sure the allantion will be as effective.
I have put allantoin into a light lotion for general skin use; it's nice on itchy dry skin. DH prefers the Mederma for his particular problem areas, however -- it's soothing and non-greasy and a little dab is all he needs.
