Psoriasis Treatment
The purpose of a psoriasis treatment is to interrupt the cycle causing an increase in the production of skin cells, which thereby will reduce the amount of inflammation and the formation of plaque. Psoriasis is a serious skin condition, but it does not require any surgery, cosmetic or otherwise, in order to address its symptoms. While laser surgery has been considered for psoriasis in the past, other treatment options have proven themselves to be more effective. The purpose of a psoriasis treatment is also to remove scale so that the skin can be smoothed, which is especially true when it comes to topical treatments that are intended to be applied directly to the skin. Psoriasis treatment options can be divided into three different categories, topical treatment options, light therapy options which are similar to laser surgery, and oral medication options.
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Topical Treatments
Topical treatments are used alone, and are usually creams and ointments that are applied to the skin to effectively treat psoriasis on a mild to moderate basis. When the disease is much more severe, however, creams are typically combined with other options including light therapy and oral medications. Some of the options that are available for you when it comes to topical psoriasis include topical corticosteroids, Vitamin D analogues, Anthralin, topical retinoids, Calcineurin inhibitors, Salicylic acid, coal tar and moisturizers which can help to reduce scaling and itching while combating the dryness that other therapies can create.
Oral Medication
If you have resistant psoriasis or severe forms of psoriasis, your doctor may decide to prescribe an injected drug or an oral medication. Because of the severe side effects that are associated with this type of medication, they are only used for a brief period of time, and they may also be alternated using other forms of psoriasis treatment as well. Some of the options that are available to you as far as oral psoriasis treatments go include Methotrexate, Retinoids, Cyclosporine, Hydroxyurea, Immunomodulators or Biologics and numerous others.
Light Therapy Options
As the name suggests, this is a psoriasis treatment that makes use of natural light or artificial ultraviolet light for the purpose of removing damage from psoriasis. The simplest and easiest form of light therapy or phototherapy involves simply exposing your skin to natural sunlight, although there are other forms including using artificial ultraviolet A or ultraviolet B, UVA or UVB light in combination with other medications or by itself. Light therapy options for psoriasis treatment include sunlight, which is ultraviolet light, UVB phototherapy, narrowband UVB therapies, photochemotherapy, Excimer laser surgery, combination light therapy and more.
Although doctors are responsible for choosing different treatments based on the type of the psoriasis and the severity of its systems, the traditional approach in most circumstances is to begin with the mildest level of treatments such as UV light therapy and topical creams before progressing into other, potentially stronger psoriasis treatment options. The goal is always to find the best and most effective way to slow the turnover of cells with the fewest level of side effects possible.
