Medication

Calcipotriene

A vitamin D-like cream or ointment for plaque psoriasis. It slows the overgrowth of skin cells that makes plaques thick and scaly, and it is not a steroid.
Dr. Schwarz, MD · Board-certified dermatologistLast reviewed September 8, 2026
16:9 hero for Calcipotriene. Never cropped: the tone strip and the corner logo depend on the full frame.

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Calcipotriene is what I reach for when someone needs to come off a strong steroid but still needs something on the plaques — cheap, generic, and it does not thin skin. It stings on the face, in the groin and under the breasts, so do not use it there. Salicylic acid inactivates it, so a drugstore scale softener can quietly cancel the prescription out. And there is a weekly limit, because more of a vitamin is not safer.

— Dr. Schwarz, Board Certified Dermatologist

Key Facts

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Also calledDovonex, Sorilux, calcipotriol
Drug classTopical vitamin D3 analog, non-steroidal
Applied as0.005% ointment, cream, scalp solution or foam
Typical courseLong term, often as maintenance between steroid courses
Time to workSome change in 2 weeks, best result at 6 to 8 weeks
Prescription onlyYes

What It Is

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Calcipotriene is a lab-made relative of vitamin D, used on the skin for plaque psoriasis. In use since the early 1990s and heavily studied. Outside the United States it is spelled calcipotriol. It keeps vitamin D's effect on skin cells while losing most of its effect on blood calcium, which is what made a vitamin D treatment usable on skin at all. Some of the calcium effect remains, which is why there is a weekly limit. It is most often prescribed with a topical steroid, either as two products or as one combined ointment, foam or gel.

How It Works

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In plaque psoriasis, skin cells in the top layer divide far too quickly and never finish maturing. They pile up as thick silvery scale instead of forming a smooth surface.

Calcipotriene binds the vitamin D receptor inside those cells. That receptor tells a skin cell when to stop dividing and start maturing. Switching it on slows the overgrowth, so the plaque thins and the scale drops away. It also calms immune cells in the plaque, more mildly.

A steroid works on a different target, damping inflammation and redness. That is why the two are combined: the steroid takes redness and itch down quickly, the vitamin D analog does the slower work on thickness and scale, without thinning skin.

Ultraviolet light breaks calcipotriene down, which matters with phototherapy.

Here is where Calcipotriene acts in the skin, and what the others do instead.

About Calcipotriene
Compare
Skin basics
BARRIEREPIDERMISDERMIS28 days4-6 daysSLOWS SKIN CELLS DOWNCROSSES EASILYQUIETS THE IMMUNE SIGNAL

In a plaque, skin cells travel from the bottom of the epidermis to the surface in four to six days instead of a month, and pile up as scale. Calcipotriene slows them back down, so the plaque thins. A vitamin D relative. Often paired with a steroid in one tube.

Calcipotriene is a vitamin D relative, fat-soluble and able to cross. It is broken down quickly once in, which is what keeps it from affecting calcium in the body the way vitamin D would.

The redness, swelling and itch are the immune system reacting, not the damage itself. This turns that reaction down where it is happening, in the skin, which is why a rash settles within days.

The outer film of dead cells and oil. It holds water in and keeps irritants out, and it is thinner than a sheet of paper. Almost every dry, itchy, stinging skin problem starts here.

The outer layer, and the only one anything in a jar reaches. It renews itself constantly: a cell made at the bottom takes about a month to reach the surface and flake off. Most of what a skincare product does, it does here.

The living layer underneath, holding the blood vessels, the nerves and the collagen. It is where lasting change happens and it is hard to reach: most of what is sold for the skin never gets this far.

What It Treats

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Nail Psoriasis
Moderate evidence
A vitamin D treatment that works best on the nail bed problems — the chalky buildup that thickens and lifts the nail. It is often paired with a steroid, or alternated with one, so the steroid can be rested. Expect months, not weeks, and judge it on the new nail at the base.
Scalp Psoriasis
Scalp Psoriasis
Moderate evidence
A vitamin D treatment that slows the skin cells down. It is slower than a steroid, taking six to eight weeks, but it can be used for far longer without thinning the skin, so it is often what keeps a scalp clear after a steroid has broken the flare. It can sting on cracked skin.

Not the Best For

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Vitiligo
Vitiligo
Limited evidence
A vitamin D cream sometimes added to a steroid or to light therapy, on the idea that it helps pigment cells return. On its own it does very little for vitiligo. Its value is as a partner treatment, and the evidence for even that is mixed.
Nail psoriasis
Doesn't work
Nail psoriasis responds poorly to calcipotriene, as it does to almost any cream, because the drug cannot reach where the nail is made.
Clearing a plaque on its own
Doesn't work
Complete clearing is uncommon with calcipotriene alone, and it does less for redness than a steroid does. Clearing rates are noticeably higher with the combined calcipotriene-and-steroid products.
The mark left where a plaque was
Doesn't work
The darker or lighter patch left behind is pigment change, not psoriasis. It fades over months, and takes longer in deeper skin tones.

Forms

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Same drug, several vehicles, chosen by where on the body it goes.

Ointment:

Cream:

Scalp solution:

Foam:

Combined with a steroid:

Strengths

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One strength only. There is no weaker or stronger version, so treatment is stepped up by changing the vehicle or adding a steroid.

The only strength
0.005%
Used in every form and every trial, whether ointment, cream, solution or foam.

Basics

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When to Apply
Twice a day for the plain product, thinly onto the plaques only. Once a day for the combined calcipotriene-and-steroid products. Do not use more than about 100 grams a week, and do not treat more than roughly a third of the body surface. With phototherapy, apply it after the session, not before.
How to Start
Full dose from day one, on the plaques only. Many start on a combined calcipotriene-and-steroid product for the first few weeks to settle redness, then continue on calcipotriene alone.
If It Irritates
Burning and stinging in the first days is usual and often settles. Moisturizer first, or once a day for a week, helps. Irritation on the face, eyelids, groin or under the breasts is not one to push through — thin skin, and this drug is not made for it. Sharp burning on broken skin means waiting for it to close over.
If It’s Not Working
There is only one strength, so nothing can be increased. Give it six to eight weeks. If plaques are still thick, the next steps are the combined product with a steroid, switching cream for ointment, adding phototherapy, or a tablet or injection. Also check what else is going on the skin — salicylic acid inactivates calcipotriene.

Sample Routine

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Here is where Calcipotriene sits in a day, and what goes around it. Pick what you are treating and what your skin is like, and the rest of the routine changes to suit.

What to Expect

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First few minutes | Applying it
Stinging or burning, if it happens, is worst at the start and eases.
Weeks 1 to 2 | Starting
Early flattening and less scale. Its strongest effect, and what people notice first.
Weeks 2 to 6 | The steady phase
Plaques thin and the silvery scale falls away. Redness fades more slowly than thickness, the main reason calcipotriene and a steroid are combined. Itch improves, slower than with a steroid.
Weeks 6 to 8 | Judge it here
Roughly where the effect plateaus in trials.
Scalp | Where it is used most
The scalp solution and the combined foam or gel work well here.
Long term | Maintenance
Used between steroid courses, it holds the result. Stopped, plaques return over weeks to months.

What to Avoid

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  • The face, eyelids, groin and under the breasts: Thin skin burns and stings there. Wash your hands after applying, so it is not carried to your face.
  • Using more than about 100 grams a week Enough absorbed at once can raise blood calcium. More is not better and not safer.
  • Treating very large areas of the body Roughly a third of the body surface is the ceiling. Widespread psoriasis calls for a different treatment, not more cream.
  • Salicylic acid products at the same time Salicylic acid inactivates calcipotriene. Keep a scale softener well apart in the day, or ask about a different one.
  • Applying it before phototherapy Ultraviolet light breaks the drug down. Apply it after the session.
  • Erythrodermic or pustular psoriasis These widespread, unstable forms carry a real risk of raised blood calcium with vitamin D analogs, and need urgent care rather than a tube.
  • Open, cracked or weeping skin Absorption goes up and stinging is much worse.

Monitoring

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No routine blood tests when it is used normally: plaques only, within the weekly amount, healthy kidneys.

The one thing watched for is raised blood calcium. It is rare, and it comes from using far more than recommended, treating very large areas, or kidney disease that stops the body clearing the extra calcium. Calcium may be checked if any of those apply, or if you take high-dose vitamin D or calcium supplements. Symptoms are unusual thirst, passing more urine than usual, nausea, constipation, muscle weakness and confusion.

Monitoring is otherwise clinical — the skin at six to eight weeks, and how much of a tube is used per week. With the combined steroid product, the review also covers how long the steroid has run.

Long term, calcipotriene alone is a drug you can stay on. Nothing accumulates and it does not thin skin, which is why it is the usual maintenance between steroid courses.

If You Stop

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No taper and no withdrawal from calcipotriene itself. Psoriasis is long-term, so plaques generally come back after stopping, over weeks to months — the disease returning, not a rebound caused by the drug. Rebound matters when it has been part of a combined product with a strong steroid. Stopping a potent steroid abruptly after a long run can cause a flare, which is why the plan is to come off the steroid and continue calcipotriene alone.

Cost

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Generic calcipotriene is cheap and widely available; cost is rarely the barrier for the plain ointment or cream. The branded combination products, and the foam and suspension forms, cost substantially more and often need prior authorization. Plans usually want a topical steroid, and often generic calcipotriene, tried first. If cost decides it, generic ointment or cream plus a separate generic steroid does much the same job, at the price of two tubes.

Ask Your Doctor

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If you have kidney disease or a history of high blood calcium: Absorbed calcipotriene is cleared less well, and this is where blood calcium genuinely matters.
If you take high-dose vitamin D or calcium supplements: The effects add up.
If you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding: Ask the doctor managing your pregnancy. Do not apply it to the chest if breastfeeding.
If you develop unusual thirst, are passing more urine than usual, or feel nauseated, weak or confused: These are the symptoms of raised blood calcium.
If your psoriasis is widespread, bright red over most of the body, or breaking out in pustules: These unstable forms need urgent assessment, not a topical.
If you are having phototherapy
Ultraviolet light breaks the drug down.

How It Compares

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Topical steroids
The same
faster on redness and itch, cheaper, and stronger evidence for short-term clearing. The trade-off is skin thinning with long use and a flare when they are stopped, neither of which calcipotriene causes.
Calcipotriene combined with a steroid
Better
better evidence than either alone, once-daily dosing, and the standard way psoriasis plaques are started now. It costs more, and the steroid half still carries steroid limits.
Tapinarof and roflumilast creams
The same
newer, steroid-free, once daily, and usable on the face and skin folds where calcipotriene is not. Both cost far more, and neither has calcipotriene's decades of use behind it.
Five medicated scalp products on white, including Amazon Basics tar gel, T+Plus, MG217, RoyceDerm and Nizoral16:9 hero for Coal Tar. Never cropped: the tone strip and the corner logo depend on the full frame.
Coal tar
Worse
inexpensive with a long history, but messy, strong-smelling and stains fabric. Used far less now.
Paula's Choice 2% BHA exfoliant, La Roche-Posay Effaclar cleanser and a CeraVe psoriasis cream pumpLabeled cutaway diagram of a single skin pore, headed Salicylic Acid. The epidermis is a brick-textured band across the top and the dermis is pink below it, with a yellow oil gland at the base of the pore and a small cluster of bacteria inside it. A single dark navy callout line points into the top of the pore: decreases dead cells in pore. There are no other callouts, so the drawing shows one effect where the other ingredient diagrams show two or three.
Salicylic acid
Different job
softens and removes scale rather than treating the psoriasis. It also inactivates calcipotriene, so the two do not belong in the same routine at the same time.
Phototherapy and systemic drugs
Different job
for psoriasis too widespread for any cream. Calcipotriene is often continued alongside them for stubborn patches.

Myths

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  • "It is a steroid." It is not. A vitamin D analog on a different receptor, and it does not thin skin, which is why it is used for maintenance where a steroid cannot be.
  • "Taking vitamin D pills does the same thing." No. Oral vitamin D at doses that would treat plaques would raise blood calcium dangerously. The drug was redesigned to work in the skin without that.
  • "More will clear it faster." No, and this is the one where more carries a real risk. Going over the weekly amount is the main route to raised blood calcium.
  • "If it stings, it is working." Stinging is irritation, not effect. It is the most common reason people give up, and usually settles with moisturizer first.
  • "It stopped working." Sometimes a salicylic acid product alongside it is inactivating the drug. Check that before concluding failure.

Questions Patients Ask

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Is calcipotriene a steroid?

No. A vitamin D analog. It does not thin skin, which is why it can be used long term and is often the maintenance treatment after a steroid course.

Can I use it on my face?

No. The face, eyelids, groin and under the breasts all sting badly — thin skin. Ask about a different product for those areas.

How much can I use?

About 100 grams a week, and about a third of the body surface. That limit keeps blood calcium from rising.

Why does it burn?

Irritation is the most common side effect, worst in the first days. Moisturizer first, or once a day for a week or two, settles it.

Can I use a salicylic acid scale remover with it?

Not at the same time. Salicylic acid inactivates calcipotriene. Keep them well apart in the day or ask about an alternative.

Do I need blood tests?

Not for normal use with healthy kidneys. Calcium may be checked with kidney disease, very large amounts, or high-dose vitamin D.

References

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