What is the difference in bactron cream and the bactron ointment?

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2 Nov 2010

The basic difference between cream & ointment is; cream is primarily water based. Basically, it is oil in water. On the other hand, an ointment is based in oil. It means it is a preparation of water in oil.

In order to illustrate this difference, you have to look at the specific percentage of water and oil content of ointments and creams. For example, an ointment consists of 80 percent oil and 20 percent water. Meanwhile, creams are generally composed of 50 percent water and 50 percent oil. But there are topical cream products with much lower oil component.

The spreadability factor is also a major difference between ointment and cream. Ointments are greasier and they have thicker consistencies. So you may not be able to spread ointments over large areas of the skin. Creams on the other hand have lighter consistencies so these work better if you want to cover large areas.

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