Psoriasis - What is it and how to treat it

What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a disease which affects the skin and joints and commonly causes red scaly patches to appear on the skin. The scaly patches are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production. Psoriasis can cause pain, itching, burning and emotional distress. It affects both sexes equally and can occur at any age, although it most commonly appears for the first time between the ages of 15 and 25.

Today more than seven million Americans suffer with psoriasis. Recent studies show that there may be an ethnic link. It seems that psoriasis is most common in Caucasians, slightly less in African Americans and far less common among Asians and Native Americans.

Psoriasis is not contagious. You can't catch psoriasis from another person or give it to someone by touching them, and you can't spread it to other parts of your body.

Psoriasis treatment

Today, there are many different treatments available to help control psoriasis. No single treatment works for everyone. The goal is to find a treatment that works the best with the fewest side effects. One of the first principles of psoriasis treatment is to not create anything worse than the disease.

Dermatologists often use a trial-and-error approach to finding the most appropriate psoriasis treatment. The decision to use a particular treatment is based on the type of psoriasis, its location, extent, severity, the patient's age, gender and quality of life.

There are three basic types of treatments for psoriasis:

Topical treatment - Topical treatments agents applied to the skin are usually the first line of defense in treating psoriasis. Topicals slow down or normalize excessive cell reproduction, remove built-up scale, reduce skin turn over, and clear affected skin of plaques. Some topical agents are used in conjunction with other therapies, especially phototherapy.

Phototherapy (UVB, PUVA and lasers) involves exposing the skin to wavelengths of ultraviolet light under medical supervision. Ultraviolet light treatment is frequently combined with topical or systemic treatment.

Systemic treatment - Psoriasis which is resistant to topical treatment and phototherapy is treated by agents that are taken internally by pill or injection. This is called systemic treatment. Systemic medications are prescription medications that affect the entire body, and are usually reserved for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. The treatments for extensive and severe forms of psoriasis may have long-term side effects.

Alternative Psoriasis treatments

The use of alternative psoriasis treatments are becoming more common as more and more people choose to treat their condition in more nontraditional ways.

Alternative psoriasis treatments are in most cases perfectly safe and include:

Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Manipulation Treatment , Osteopathy, Climatotherapy, Diet, Dietary Supplements, Homeopathy, Water Therapies (Balneotherapy, Heliotherapy, Phytotherapy, Thalassotherapy), Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatments, Meditation and Relaxation, Herbology, Hypnosis, Moisturizing, Products, Magnets, Epsom salt, Neem oil, Fasting...

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