Many non-prescription psoriasis medications have herbs in them, or they use herbal and natural ingredients which are known to help heal and soften skin problems. Other psoriasis creams and ointments contain coal tar or retinoic acid.
Since psoriasis is considered incurable, and in fact doctors are not entirely sure what causes the disease yet, treatment and medicine is focused on reducing or controlling the symptoms of psoriasis. Not all psoriasis medications work the same for everyone though, so sometimes multiple types of treatment are needed.
Most of the time, psoriasis medication starts with topical creams, salves and ointments, then moves on to Ultraviolet (UV) light treatment. With severe cases of psoriasis however, and those cases which haven’t responded to other treatments, injection drug medications are used.
Many non-prescription psoriasis medications have herbs in them, or they use herbal and natural ingredients which are known to help heal and soften skin problems. Often this is used in combination with the topical psoriasis medications.
The first step in treating psoriasis is to use topical psoriasis medications. Topical medications are creams, salves and ointments which have ingredients in them designed to soften the psoriasis plaques, thin them out, and in some cases slow down the skin growth response.
Most of the time, psoriasis medication starts with topical creams, salves and ointments, then moves on to Ultraviolet (UV) light treatment. With severe cases of psoriasis however, and those cases which haven’t responded to other treatments, injection drug medications are used.
When the body is subjected to a trigger, the immune system starts to generate new skin cells rapidly, and pushing them to the surface in just a few days time. Normally skin cells take thirty days or so to rise to the surface though, and this gives the existing surface skin time to die off and shed. Since psoriasis sufferers have a new skin rising rapidly though, that skin piles up in the form of thick skin plaques which can be red, flaky and itchy.
When neither of those psoriasis treatments work though, doctors sometimes use special immune-suppressing drugs, which are given by IV in the hospital, or through injection with a needle. These psoriasis medications are very powerful and work to suppress the body’s immune system, but they can have dangerous side effects too so they’re often only used for the most severe cases of psoriasis.
When topical psoriasis medications don’t work by themselves, doctors often introduce UV light therapy. Often this is used in combination with the topical psoriasis medications.
Now, psoriasis is a skin condition or disease that is not contagious. It’s actually caused by an overreaction of the body’s own immune system, and often that reaction is caused by triggers of some kind. Common triggers include severe stress, trauma or injury, and severe illnesses such as strep throat.
