Treatments For Psoriasis
How can I cure my psoriasis? I have seen dozens of doctors, naturopaths, homeopaths and faith healers, but none can help me.
The sad truth is that there is no cure for psoriasis, but doctors do have a number of quite successful forms of control that help most patients. It can also come and go without any treatment.
Because of this tendency to improve spontaneously, many forms of alternate medical treatments have claimed success in its management. Treatment involves one or more of a number of creams or ointments that are used regularly on the skin. Coal tar in various forms is the mainstay of treatment, but steroid creams can supplement it. Many other less common creams (eg. Daivonex) can be used on the skin, along with ultraviolet irradiation, and some newer very potent tablets that are giving great relief to the more severe victims.
Although chronic and sometimes severe, psoriasis can be successfully controlled if a doctor’s advice is carefully followed.
Are there any new treatments for psoriasis?
This plaintive cry for help is constantly heard by general practitioners and dermatologists. Psoriasis is one of the most annoying, but rarely serious, skin diseases to afflict mankind. It can come and go for no apparent reason, may flare in varying parts of the body, and can even cause arthritis. Traditional treatments involve a combination of various messy creams from coal tar to steroids. Most help to some extent, but none cure. Ultraviolet light, steroid injections and anticancer drugs have all been tried in severe cases. One of the most successful skin preparations is dithranol.
The latest advance is a drug called Neotigason. This has been available for only a few years, and is very successful in controlling (not curing) severe (not mild) cases of psoriasis. This drug cannot be used during pregnancy, and has other side effects that will have to be considered by your doctor and yourself.
Anyone with psoriasis should be under the regular care of a doctor, because keeping the rash under control is the long-term way to prevent its spread and the more serious complications of the disease.