Treatment of Psoriasis
There isn’t an ultimate cure for psoriasis, but there are different types of therapies that significantly reduce the symptoms of psoriasis. No matter where it is or what type it is, psoriasis is frequently worse by touch, especially by wearing tight clothing like underwear with elastic waistbands and socks.
If your psoriasis is prone to flare up or while you’re receiving treatment, it may be helpful to wear looser clothing in certain areas. Not to mention the necessity of avoiding the precipitating factors that may trigger a flare-up. Besides a proper treatment plan, following a healthy lifestyle free of stress, smoking and alcohol would help significantly relieve psoriasis. Psychological support is often an overlooked and ignored side of the treatment, however, it has a great impact.
According to the patient’s symptoms, his dermatologist will choose the proper treatment plan. The treatment plan for psoriasis will consist of one or more of the following:
1) Topicals
Topicals are the most used line of treatment for mild to moderate psoriasis. Topical steroid is the medication of choice, especially for plaque psoriasis. Steroids are potent anti-inflammatories that reduce the symptoms of inflammation that accompany psoriases such as redness and itching. Topical salicylic acid is used as a keratolytic which exfoliates the upper layers of the skin and removes excessive scales.
Many dermatologists may also prescribe calcipotriol (a synthetic form of vitamin D) because it is believed that vit. D deficiency may exacerbate psoriasis. Moreover, the combination of steroids with calcipotriol is found to reduce remarkably skin irritation. Your doctor may ask to apply a scale softener to avoid over-dryness of the skin. Topical coal tar is used to treat psoriasis, particularly the plaque type for a long time and proved its effectiveness meanwhile, however, we don’t know much about it, so it is not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
