Psoriasis is a skin disease that multiplies skin cells ten times faster than normal time. Because of this disease, you can see bumpy red patches in your skin. It mostly shows on the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back but can grow anywhere. Psoriasis is not a contagious disease. It happens mostly in early adulthood. Sometimes the cure is not permanent. It can come back to one’s life.
There are no exact reasons for psoriasis. But some believe that it is a combination of various things because of the wrong immune system inflammation causes. It can be a reason for psoriasis. Usually, skin cells take 10-30 days to replace. But if you have psoriasis, new cells grow within 3 to 4 days. The development of new cells which replace the old ones creates those silver scales. Psoriasis could be a Hereditary disease.
Things that can reason for psoriasis:
- Cuts, scrapes, or surgery
- Emotional stress
- Strep infections
- Medications, including
- Blood pressure medications (like beta-blockers)
- Hydroxychloroquine, antimalarial medication
Treatment
The motive of psoriasis treatment is to stop skin cells growing so fastly and remove it from scales. The treatment could be creams, ointments, medication, light therapy, etc.
Which treatment is for you? It depends on your skin type and severeness of your psoriasis. Sometimes people need to take different treatments to know the perfect one.
Topical therapy
- Corticosteroids: For mild psoriasis, these kinds of drugs are prescribed most frequently. You can get these drugs like ointments, creams, lotions, gels, foams, sprays, and shampoos. For sensitive areas like the face or skin folds suggests mild corticosteroids. Long time uses of these drugs may stop working. You shouldn’t use these drugs on a regular basis.
- Vitamin D analogues: Vitamin D helps to slow the growth of skin cells. These drugs are usually used along with corticosteroids. It may cause less irritation in sensitive areas. Calcipotriene and calcitriol are usually more costly than topical corticosteroids.
- Retinoids: This kind of medication is available as a gel, and you can use it once or twice daily. The side effects of these drugs are skin irritation and increased sensitivity to light. During pregnancy or breastfeeding time, this medication is not applicable.
- Salicylic acid: This is a kind of shampoo that reduces the scalp psoriasis. It is mainly used along with some other medicines to increase the effectiveness of that medication.
- Coal tar: Coal tar reduces scaling, itching, and inflammation. It is available as a shampoo, cream, or oil. By using these products, your skin may feel irritated. These products are also messy and create a strong odor. This treatment is also not applicable to pregnant women.
- Goeckerman therapy: A combination of coal tar with light therapy is called goeckerman therapy. The combination of two therapies is more effective because coal tar makes skin more receptive to UVB light.
- Anthralin: This is a type of cream that helps slow down the skin cell’s growth. It can cause skin smoother and remove scales. It is not applicable to sensitive skin like the face or genitals. This medicine can irritate the skin. It is mainly used for a short time. After using some time, it washed off.
Light therapy
Nowadays light therapy is the most effective treatment for any skin condition nowadays. It treats skin conditions with the help of natural or artificial lights. To get rid of psoriasis, people need to take repeated therapy. Take advice from your doctors to know how many sessions you need to get the result.
Sunlights are, as usual, beneficial for health and skin. In light therapy, mainly use the sunlight to treat your skin. So it is very safe, and side effects are infrequent in this treatment. Moisturizing skin properly helps faster to improve this treatment. Right now, light therapy is the most effective psoriasis treatment. Before taking this therapy, consult your doctor and examine your skin properly or else skin gets irritated.
Oral or Injected Drugs:
Sometimes you need oral or injected drugs to remove your psoriasis from the skin. Doctors suggest medication only for a short time or else it would create side effects. It is also used as an alternative treatment with other medications.
- Steroids: Your doctor might suggest injecting triamcinolone right into the lesions if you have a few small, persistent psoriasis patches.
Biologics:
Biologics are impacted by the entire immune system, which is different from traditional systemic drugs. It only works a specific part of the body and immune system. It mainly blocks the action of T-cells so that the growth of cells becomes slow. This process develops the treatment a lot.
Depending on your skin condition, you can take these drugs through injection. You can use those injections by yourself or the help of a healthcare provider.
Your health care provider can suggest to you how many doses you need to reduce your psoriasis.
Active and Mindful lifestyle:
Physical activity is very much needed for your overall health improvement. Mind-body techniques can help to calm your mind and reduce stress as well. Because of that, a positive impact will be noticed in your life, and it also helps to get rid of psoriasis. Positive thought and mindful life also help to remove the embarrassment that creates these diseases.
Treatment considerations
Based on your skin type and severity, doctors will choose the treatments. The Treatment starts with gentle treatment such as topical cream or light therapy. If your skin is more sensitive then try for other strong medications or else always try to take mild treatment to get rid of psoriasis. The aim of any treatment is to remove this condition as soon as possible in an effective way. However, it may come back after some time. But regular treatment and medications can help to remove it permanently.
There also has some alternative therapy that can be used as a treatment for psoriasis. To know more about the treatment, you should consult with a specialist. They can help you know more about it and suggest which treatment will be more effective for you.