Psoriasis
Psoriasis is typically featured as patchy, raised, red areas of skin inflammation with scaling, psoriasis often affects the tips of the elbows and knees, the scalp, navel, and around the anus and genital areas.
A lot of psoriasis patients also develop an associated inflammation of their joints which often is diagnosed as having psoriatic arthritis. About 1 in 10 people with psoriasis will also develop inflammation of joints.
Psoriatic arthritis is part of a group of arthritis that is more then likly to cause inflammation of the spine. Why this happens is currently unknown, but more then likely a combination of genetic and immune factors as well as environmental factors, are involved.
Psoriatic arthritis can often occur in men and women that are over the age of fifty,it also affects both sexes equally. Psoriasis and arthritis will often appear at different times as the arthritis may precede the psoriasis in the most of patients. Some patients may have had arthritis for over twenty years before psoriasis develops.
People with psoriatic arthritis can also develop inflammation of tendons, cartilage, eyes, lining of the lungs, and occasionally the aorta. Psoriatic arthritic can also look like the pattern seen with rheumatoid arthritis.
Treatments available to help control psoriasis,and the good news is that their are lots of them Some can be found at the local store while others you will need to go to the docktor to get a prescription.Because they are so many treatment, it may take time to find the right one for you.
The most commonly prescribed treatments for psoriasis is topical corticosteroids . Which is synthetic drugs that are a bit like naturally occurring hormones in the body that are available in different strengths and formulations that cludes lotions, creams, solutions, sprays, gels, and ointments.
Corticosteroids act by slowing down the growth of skin cells and decreasing the inflammation of lesions in patients with psoriasis. While corticosteroids may quickly clear lesions, they do not produce long term remissions so the lesions associated with psoriasis may recur after a short term. Side effects are numerous and may include stretch marks or scars on the skin.
Topical therapies have remained the mainstay of treatment for many patients suffering with mild psoriasis. Topical treatments work relatively quickly at clearing lesions and are typically well tolerated by the majority of psoriasis sufferers.
However, topical treatments must be used repeatedly to remain effective and are often not able to maintain remission of an outbreak. Dithranol is a topical therapy which has been used often to treat psoriasis. It can be effective for mild to moderate psoriasis and is often used with ultraviolet treatments for patients with more severe psoriasis.
There are a few major issues which limit the use of Dithranol because it can cause annoyance and burning to the skin and can stain everything it comes in contact with.
While complementary and alternative treatments are becoming more common, it is important to note that to date they have not been tested and studied to the same extent as conventional medical treatments. But as more people have been active partners in their treatment of psoriasis, interest in alternative medicine has grown by leaps and bounds
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