What is Ammonium Lactate Topical used for?
Last updated September 7, 2026.
Ammonium lactate topical is a medicated moisturizer used to treat dry, rough, scaly skin, including xerosis and ichthyosis vulgaris. It combines lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid, with ammonium hydroxide, so it both pulls water into the outer skin layer and loosens the dead cells that build up as scale. That makes it stronger than a plain moisturizer for thickened or flaky skin on the legs, arms, hands, and feet, and many clinicians also suggest it for keratosis pilaris. It comes as a 12 percent lotion or cream sold over the counter and by prescription, and as a 14 percent prescription cream. Stinging is common on cracked, raw, or freshly shaved skin, and the treated area can burn more easily in the sun. Most people see a real change after two to four weeks of steady twice-daily use, not after a few applications.
What to do
- Apply to damp skin: Use it right after a shower or bath and rub it in fully, twice a day unless your label or clinician says otherwise.
- Keep it off raw areas: Skip cuts, cracks, sunburn, and just-shaved skin, since the acid stings there and can worsen irritation.
- Protect treated skin from sun: Alpha hydroxy acids raise sun sensitivity, so use sunscreen and clothing on arms, hands, and legs you have treated.
- Give it a few weeks: Texture usually improves after two to four weeks of daily use, and stopping early often lets the scale return.
- Check the strength: The 12 percent lotion is available over the counter, while the 14 percent cream needs a prescription, so match what you buy to the plan you were given.
- Call a clinician when: The skin cracks open, oozes, spreads rapidly, or itches severely, or a child needs treatment, since those need an exam rather than a moisturizer.
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