system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is it recommended to completely finish an oral antibiotic prescription, while topical antibiotics (ex. polysporin and other antibiotic creams) can be applied as needed?

Hello! I understand that when taking oral antibiotics, you're strongly recommended to finish the entire prescription, since finishing early could allow resistant survivors to reproduce and cause an antibiotic-resistant infection. However, with topical antibiotics like creams and ointments, it's recommended to apply liberally as needed either with or without a bandage. Is there a reason that topical antibiotics can be used only as needed? Wouldn't using them in this way enable antibiotic resistance?

Thank you so much for your help!
gpt
It's because most topical antibiotics work by mechanisms that bacteria can't build resistance to ie they rip cells open.  They're too toxic to use systemically but resistance isn't really a problem.  Plus to be honest anything you can "treat" with a topical antibiotic probably doesn't need to be "treated" in the first place.