Is a steroid cream rebound guaranteed?

I would suggest talking to your GP or Dermatologist about this as well. As far as I understand the steroid rebound is not guaranteed - I am not experiencing it now, and I did not experience it back in the 80s. I do have (amongst everything else) a particularly large, scaly and dry patch on one elbow. If I apply Dovobet sparingly twice a day it fades very quickly. Sometimes when I stop applying the Dovobet it returns within about 48 hours, but no worse than before. But sometimes it does not return for weeks. I have a much smaller and less aggressive patch on the other elbow which seems to stay away for weeks and weeks before a flare up. Trying to avoid the rebound is one reason that the general trend seems to be not to prescribe pure steroid topical preparations, but something like Dovobet which is a combination of a steroid and another treatment. A couple of months ago I was discussing different steroids with my GP related to psoriasis in a particularly sensitive area, and what I had used over the past 40 years. Your body may react slightly differently to say an ointment than a cream version of the same steroid, to the same concentration. In the 70s when I was frst prescribed something it was Betonovate (betamethasone). In trying to find an effective treatment, AND reduce the rebound effect, the different forms and combinations of different steroids have developed and the products like Dovobet. As I have not yet had to do it, I don't know if they would try a reduced dosage( eg once a day instead of twice a day, for example ) to wean you off, or perhaps try a different medication during a wean off stage. Hopefully the advantage of seeing a specialist/dermatologist or even a GP is that they should know or be able to find out what is the latest practice/protocol that seems to deliver the best results for the most people.