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Thanks everyone, I have passed all of this on to my Dad. He has been prescribed cetraban and dovobet, so hoping this gets it under control.

Pregnancy did wonders for my psoriasis, sadly that cannot help here.

I don't really know what triggers mine. As a child, a couple of times it was triggered by the tonsilitis bacteria, terrible terrible flare ups, hospitalisation type flare up. Otherwise, largely, it has been fairly stable in recent years.

Dovobet is amazing, but only for short term, as it thins the skin. Brilliant for emergencies though.

The sun does help too - bring it on please!

Hope he feels better soon.

Marking my place.... sorry to hear he is suffering. It really can be utterly miserable.

I have a small patch of it, which I think may have been sparked off by using beta-blockers. I just bought a book called 'Eating for Better Health', written by a woman called Prof Jane Plant who seems to be well-respected. I have not read the whole book so far but it seems very sensible and just focuses on eating very healthily. There is a section on psoriasis which advises cutting out red meat and dairy products and all fried/processed food and trying to eat as much raw veg/fruit as possible and lots of good fibre.

DM is on Humara injections (usually only the most severe cases have this option) and it's practically cleared up altogether. She has had plaque psoriasis since the age of 19.

DH has it only mildly, but a good dose of sun and sea water and it clears up for a while.

I'm sure I read of somewhere (in France? )with a natural high mineral content in spring water was successful for some people. I saved the article but it was a few years ago, so I've no idea if I will be able to find it.

my dh uses beta cap for his scalp ,which he gets on prescription.For his body he uses aqueous cream to wash with.

drinking green tea is meant to be good, as part of a heath kick my friend did this. cleared up quickly.

Dd and I have psoriasis. I've had it for 51 years. Obviously no cures, however, trilogy rosehip moisturising cream (around £20) is fabulously soothing, particularly if kept in the fridge. It's not a big pot but a little goes a long way.
Hope he feels better soon.

My dad has it really badly too. He gets creams from the doctor but nothing really works. Problem is he is very private and never talks about it and won't ask for advice or seek help. He won't expose his poor legs to the sun because he is ashamed of them......... He just puts up with it .

MIRACLE temporary cure is sunbeds. clear iMne completely. but of course you have to weigh up the potential damage they may bring.

you can actually hire psoriasis beds which only have the burning rays not the tanning rays. the guy i hired mine from did them, but he recommended a nitmal sunbed for me as my psoriasis is patchy not all over.

.

You can try this, although I can't promise anything.

Get some dried comfrey root. A good handful. (you can buy on ebay etc. not the cheapest of herbs, but you can haggle). Use a grinder or blender to get it into smaller bits. The nearer to grains/powder, the better. Then, get a saucepan/large container with a tight fitting lid. Put in the comfrey root. Pour over freshly boiled water. Put on the lid. Leave for AT LEAST two hours stirring very very occassionally. The water should now feel slimy (do not boil the root itself as it damages it somehow and you don't get that slimy feeling which is what you are looking for).

Put it in a bath and soak for half hour/hour. Don't put on any creams/lotions/oils etc. for a few hours after. The effect will take a while to kick in.

For expenses sake more than anything else, I think a comfrey root bath every two/three days for a bit does the trick. with myself and DS (ecezma and psoriasis) I try to only use this treatment for flare ups. I dont' use it as a preventative in case the 'magic' wears off. I came by it more by luck than by judgement and all I can say is it has worked for use where steroids etc. have failed.

I have eczema, much better than when I was small, but still have rubbish periods. When the skin is open and weepy, the only cream that seems to help is fucibet, a prescription cream with antibiotic and steroid. it's helped friends who also have skin problems like dermatitis, acne...so maybe it would work for psoriasis too? Really really good cream.

I can't reccommend the sun enough, it's the best natural healer.

Has he tried other antihistamines? The only type if find effective for controlling itch is loratadine, pirioton and the other brands usually have citrizine hydrochloride in them, which I find is crap basically.

Hope he finds some relief soon.

DH has had this for years, although not too badly. He has patches on arms and scalp. He's tried various prescribed creams but no luck.

He's been low carbing for 8 weeks, and cut out bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and alcohol. His skin has improved so much, it's really unbelievable.

Sorry can't get link on phone

[[ http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_health/1666275-Psoriasis-help]]this was a thread that i posted on has some useful info

You can get the skinnies in adult sizes btw

dd2 and I have been to the GP today. Dd1 also has it but it's not too bad atm after a flare last year when I think she had whooping cough. Dd2 is now worse than dd1 has ever been. We have diprobase, shampoo, shower gel stuff, steriod cream and scalp solution AND the GP has prescribed her 'skinnies' to wear at night so that the diprobase has most effect. The chemist has to order them in first though. Dd2 is very positive about this. We are also encouraging her to get whatever sun she can. she sat out for about an hour on Saturday with a jumper on. Her scalp is bad with some patches on her forehead so anything is worth a try. She's also got it all over her torso, under her arms, groin and her tummy button is a right mess. Horrid condition.

Thanks everyone, I will relay all of this back to him in the morning. He is hoping to get into the doctors tomorrow as he is really suffering with this particular flare up. Sorry that so many of you have suffered in the same way. Its such a horrible condition. Appreciate everyone taking their time to offer advice.

Well. Not awfully useful information for your dad, but I had a really bad flare up about 3 years ago which cleared up almost completely (just scalp and one or two isolated patches left) when I got pregnant .

But apart from that, betamethasone works a bit for me. And alphosyl shampoo for the scalp. Not a complete cure, but less smelly than polytar, and definitely helps.

ohhelp my dad has found the same- with the treatments from the doctor, they work for a couple of weeks, but then it flares up again. He had a course of steroids which cleared things well for about a month but the doctor is reluctant to prescribe again.
oybbk he has taken antihistamines but says that the itching is still as awful as ever. I will tell him to try a different one though, as knowing him he tried one variety the cheapest and gave up.

anyone got any good recommendations for scalp treatments?

If itching is a problem then there are a couple of things that can help. Loads and loads of moisturiser and anti histamines. Won't get rid of the psoriasis but might help tide him over til he sees the derm.

bambalam, an you give us some details please.
i find most of the prescribed stuff works for a time then stops. i also found online stuff fabulous that had been recommended in the daily papers - sadly no seem immune to them - Sk Cream by camomile house and pure potions. the sk cream. in particular worked its magic in about 3 days. in fact i havent had any for a couple of years - will order some i think.