Psoriasis on sons head, any experience or advice?

[shatteredmumsrus]

A while back I posted on a thread by 'VictorianSqualor' that read what the hell is this on my sons head. My 3yo got referred to the dermatology dept at Bham childrens hospital back in Nov after my doctors couldnt find out what it was. After a second trip to the hospital they have diagnosed him with psoriasis. I have never heard of it in children so I am after a bit of background info. He has a bit on his ear and elbow too but mainly his scalp which has made his hair fall out. I have all kinds of lotion and potions from the doctor. I asked if the diet had anything to do with it but doctor said no just the genes. Advice please???

My mum has quite severe psoriasis and has had it since she was about 5 years old. It apparently skips a generation in our family, so I'm thinking dd might get it at some point..

Not sure which of the various potions and lotions you have but mum always swore by Balneum bath oil (similar to Oilatum) and she now uses a mixture of aloe vera gel with white soft parrafin and finds this helps much more than a lot of the potions the gp's prescribed.

I've had psoriasis since I was 16 - my dad has it too. I have it on my scalp, and small patches (known as guttate psoriasis) all over my torso, with some on my arms and legs. I've found that a tar-based shampoo (T-Gel) keeps my scalp comfortable, though I suspect that may be a little harsh for a small child. If he has quite localised patches (known as plaques), then the topical treatments with probably manage it fine. I've not heard of it causing hair to fall out, but I've only had relatively mild psoriasis.

Mine flares a bit in response to stress, but oddly I'm not an easily stressed person, and sometimes I think that my skin takes the stress for me, so that my mind is clear at say exams, etc. No idea if this is remotely medically feasible! I've actually learned to love my condition - it's part of who I am, and I can't imagine not having it now. I'm sure that if I had it severely I might think differently!

I've never noticed any effect from diet - the sun clears mine up very well, and doesn't require a huge amount of exposure to help. I think a lot of the treatments are trial and error to find which works best - hope you find a good one for your boy soon.

thankyou all. The answer is easy - move to the sun!!!

Started using medicines yesterday and can already see the diference. Put on an application of Cocois and left it for an hour then washed it off with the prescribes shampoo, cant remember the name. The scales have fallen off.It looks better but the smell of that stuff is awful, its like strong tar!Cant have it all i suppose

Sounds good. Psoriasis tends to wax and wane a bit, and sometimes it can disappear altogether. The Psoriasis Association may be able to help you too.

My dd1 has had phases of psoriasis on her scalp and it's been totally raw at times. Cocois worked only when she had it mildly, if it was raw it stung!. We had many prescriptions from GP and nothing worked. In the end we found some stuff from Lush that was called snake something, came in a solid bar and you sort of melt it in your hand and gently apply it. It worked wonders, my friends dh tried it too on his psoriasis and it cleared it up too.

You also need to be super vigilent for lice, I can't tell you how much worse they make it.

thanks scanner. I am hoping that he wont be affected by lice as he has short hair, fingers crossed.

I like lush marilyn conditioner and their chamomile solid shampoo for my scalp psoriasis - I'm blonde though so if he has dark hair I dunno what it would do to it. If the scales build up I use coconut oil from Holland and Barret. Less smelly than cocois, perhaps not as effective though, but used exactly the same way.

I've had severe psoriasis since I was 6. Mine does make my hair fallout but I've never gone bald and it always grows back! Main things I would say is use plenty of emollient, don't let his skin get dry. Sunlight helps a lot of people as long as they don't burn, so possibly keeping his hair short might be good for his scalp.

Be cautious with steroids - I don't mean utterly avoid them but do treat them with respect. Sometimes they are essential and very effective but use them exactly as prescribed.

You may find he gets triggered by throat infections - particularly strep. My doctor treats my throat infections aggressively with antibiotics. If I get them early enough it stops the flare within days.

Main thing is, just be practical about it, no 'poor ds, hes only little' etc. My Mum was great even when I was covered head to toe. As a result I'm rarely self conscious about it (apart from the snowfall I sometimes leave about the place) and just get on with it.

thanks badkitten, took him to have his dark clond hair cut today. 1st time in ages as it looked so bad. He had a number 1 and blended in, it looks fab. Cant believe what a difference the cocois has made even though it smells awful. Some has appeared on his face now though. I guess I am just getting used to it, he couldnt care less!Wont use the cocois every night now probably a few times a week, what do you lot think?

I think use it as much as you feel comfortable with, main thing is not to let the scales build up really on the scalp - its so much more comfortable if you keep it nice and flat.

You kind of get used to the tar smell - it reminds me of being little and being looked after by my Mum. I've been known to have a polytar bath if I feel a bit low and need some comforting!

The ones on his face - are they just extending from the hairline or is it a new pattern? When does he next see the dermatologist?

No it is a new patch on his face just on the top of his cheek. Go back to the derm in 10 weeks. Im not sure thats right having a po;ytar bath, you may need counselling for that one,lol x

Sorry haven't read the whole post. I have scalp psoriosis and use T-gel mostly. Then it seems to stop working so I switch to Alphosyl then that will stop working and I switch back to T-gel. Or occasionally Polytar... Sometimes I even do Vosene and it doesn't seem to do any harm!

lol about bath!

If you start to get concerned at all then phone the derms secretary and explain, they can be quite accomodating.

lol about polytar baths. like badkitten i also find the smell weirdly comforting... i have bad scalp psoriasis (along with patches all over face and body, especially on my elbows and ears, and even under my nails which has, at times, been very severe. i actually used to find cocois the only thing that helped my scalp (i had to leave it on overnight and sleep with towels on my pillow which is completely grim especially as i could never get the smell out afterwards)the good thing about cocois is that i don't think it contains a steroid. i have to say that since getting married and having ds (who always ends up in our bed) i don't use it any more and just suffer with an awful scalp...

for my face, i have always been prescribed trimovate as i seem to remember the dermatologist saying something about hairline/face psoriasis being fungal... don't take that as gospel thpough, it was a very long time ago and my memory has been shot to pieces by 2 years of broken nights...

good luck with your ds.

sounds like dermatitis herpetiformis to me, which can be far more than just skin and it can be helped by diet

any firther diet advice?Which foods help and which aggrovate?

beer aggravates mine

oily fish very good for it I've heard.