Skin care routine for psoriasis sufferers?

[MarcelineTheVampireQueen]

Skin care routine for psoriasis sufferers? Is there one? The internet talks of coal tar and UV therapy but I only have small patches so dont need all that. Its especially flaky on my forehead and eyebrows for some reason!!

Does anyone have the cure?

Nobody has the cure. I have had psoriasis for 51 years.
However, Trilogy everything balm is lovely, soothing and reduces the flakiness and redness.
Usually about eight or nine quid from Amazon and lasts ages. Don't be put off by the fact that it looks like vaseline, it really is good.

I have read lots about coal tar and using T gel shampoo, leaving it on for as long as possible then washing off.

Ciciplast by La Roche Posay is good, I use it for flaky skin, only thing that has ever worked. It's quite a novelty NOt having flaky skin after so many years of having it!

Coal tar soap is good by Wrights, someone I know uses it and says it improved her psoriasis.

Dd2 has diprobase and a steroid cream from the GP. Hers is all over the forehead (and back and tummy and ears and head....) I will watch this thread with interest

I will have a look on amazon, Trilogy is 20euro here!!

I just realised Amazon take Laser!

Northern
Lush - Dream Cream, kept in the fridge, again doesn't heal, but so soothing when it's itchy and burning!

Dead Sea Black Mud Soap has good reviews from psoriasis sufferers.

You can get it from Boots here or similar online.

I don't have psoriasis but have very sensitive skin and have used the dead sea minerals soap.

My 6 yo DD has had what looks like pale white psoriasis on her outer elbows for about a week. I've been putting an emollient on it, and have stopped using Radox in her bath.

Should I take her to the Dr's for a proper diagnosis? She says it is itchy. My DM has the red / silvery version of psoriasis and this looks similar.

The problem with psoriasis is yes, there's no cure but also, the 'relief' will be completely different for everyone.

I've had it all my life. 2 forms. Guttate and plague. For me, after years I got a Gp interested in derm and she prescribed me Dithrocream (which I hear is normally supervised in hospitals). This works well for me.

My dd has guttate and scalp psoriasis. By the age of 6 she was 80% covered in spots. It was hell. She was prescribed UV treatment and 12 weeks later she was a different girl. We still have to moisturise daily, religiously. However when she gets the odd red spot we 'zap' it with a steroid cream called Dovobet. I know some sufferers hate this cream, but its great for us.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be so long. I still have plague psoriasis on my elbows. I just moisturise constantly.

My dermatologist says - moisturise, moisturise, moisturise, and then moisturise again. She says most sufferers don't treat themselves nearly often enough or with enough cream. Use a heavy emollient. Don't use soap.

Greenhill do you mean the psoriasis has silvery plagues on them or that the spots themselves are white?

Harryhausen It's the spots themselves, they look just like raised lumps of her own skin but puffy and hard. She's scratched the tops off some of them too. Her knees have a little bit of extra 'texture' too. Not quite spots, but not smooth.

She'd played on some hard garden chairs that had a plasticky textured mesh, so we'd thought it was like an abrasion to start with.

Could be a particular type of psoriasis Greenhill. I'd go to the GP to check.

Use loads and loads of of a waxy moisturiser. If you're prescribed steroid cream, please please don't be afraid to use it as often as told and use enough cream. This was the most important advice I was given by the dermatologist. Using enough cream is key. You wouldn't believe the amount I was told to lather onto my dd. She looked like a white Morph 3 times a day......helped though.

Hope you get it sorted x

That was the moisturiser not steroid cream.

harry Please be careful with the slathering on of steriod creams, they thin the skin and scar.

Selenium does miracles here, sold for scalp but works on face too and prefer it ti steroids. Coal tar, tgel aren't so effective on me. Selenium works quickly and as well as steroids for me. Hate the smell though.

Is it selenium by itself or a selenium based product?

Thanks for the advice harry I've been putting Diprobase emollient on three times a day and this morning it has nearly gone. Would this be usual for psoriasis? I'm going to continue with the emollient for another few days, but DD says it isn't itchy any more either.

Sorry selsun is the product.

Dawndonna, I didn't say slather on steroid creams. I said moisturiser. However, I have been talking comprehensively with our senior dermatologist for a long while now about how many people don't use steroid creams properly, in that when they're prescribed people tend not to use enough to be effective (as they're too terrified based on often outdated information).

Dibrobase is a good emollient Greenhill. Keep using liberally. You can't overuse emollient cream. Hope it clears up soon

Anyone who has psoriasis needs to start taking strong daily doses of Vitamin D, it cured my psoriasis within about 6 months.

Steroid creams do nothing but treat the symptom.

Squoosh, I'm glad to hear that Vit D has worked for you. However, like I said before every treatment works differently for every sufferer.

I feel quite emotional about this subject. I've been a sufferer all my life and have tried everything and been told about hundreds of 'cures'. The only thing that has worked for me is dithrocream which is pretty serious stuff. My skin is not scarred and its not thin.

I cannot begin to tell you the trauma I went through with my dd when she was 6. It was 12 months of sheer hell. She was in agony most days. If I showed you photos it would bring you to tears. I cried - a lot. Again, everything was tried. Eventually UV light treatment was a god send for us. That, backed up with a serious moisturising routine and the odd use of a steroid on her small spots and she can live properly again. She's now nearly 9 and clear.

I've been told of so many 'cures' for psorasis for her....don't use a certain type of washing powder, don't eat dairy, don't eat fat, eat fish, rub on oats, it's stress (hmmm in a 6 yr old?)....you're an awful parent for feeding her rubbish - I've heard (and tried) most of it.

I'm not saying anyone hear is saying this, I'm just talking about how this subject touches a nerve with me. When serious medical treatment like uv and steriods has been a god send for us, I feel a bit defensive about it.

Like I said, I wish I could find 'our cure'... I wish something simple like VitD would do it. Honestly I do

Sorry to hijack your post Greenhill. I'm certain your dd will be fine with the Diprobase.

harry it is marceline's thread, if anything I hijacked hers.... I hope she doesn't mind.

Brilliant advice though, from everyone x

Oh I realise Vitamin D won?t work for everyone but it seems to be something that a lot of sufferers haven?t even heard of as it?s only recently that they?ve made the link between auto immune conditions and chronically low levels of Vit D. I had psoriasis for three years and it?s hell, GPs aren?t interested in it, I don?t think they realise the emotional toil it takes on a person, all they?ll say is ?there's no cure, all you can do is take this steroid cream?, which is fine but doesn?t really help long term.

Vit D is cheap for all and effective for some so definitely worth a shot.

harry and others can I hijack?? DH has had really bad psoriasis for years and years. He has the plaque kind and also a different sort in, ahem, sensitive areas.

He's been prescribed steroid creams but doesn't use them because they feel all sticky and get all over the sheets, and also he says they just 'lower' the raised patches of skin but leave them bright pink, so he still gets stared at in the pool :( So he doesn't bother.

Are there any non-greasy creams you have found?

And how does UVA therapy work? Can you do it at home? Is it safe?

His GP = totally uninterested :( So no help there.

Will try to make him start on Vitamin D!!

It makes me really angry when I hear that the gp's aren't interested. Squoosh is right, it's a serious disorder that causes all kinds of problems including mental health.

When dd had guttate (a form that comes as 1 - 2cm wide bright red spots angry strewn across the body. Intensely painful and itchy) the Gp just read about it on the Internet during the consultation. She said it work go away as it happens after a sore throat (not necessarily true). I knew it wouldn't as I've the same sort throughout periods of my life. I just made a nuisance of myself. I kept going back every 2 weeks. Eventually I saw a different Gp who saw what agony dd was in (and how severe the psoriasis now was). She fast tracked us to a dermatology nurse....who sent us to the senior derm at the hospital...who within about 2 mins fast tracked us to uv light treatment.

The hospital uv treatment is serious stuff. It's like a Tardis room of uv tubes, completely enclosed. You stand naked and get blasted by certain uv rays. Dd went 3 x a week for 12 weeks. It was built up from 30 secs exposure at the start to 2 mind at the end. You could clearly see it working about 8 weeks in.

Some suffers say they use their own uv lamps but I'm not sure I would consider this. It's very very easy to do yourself damage. The hospital were ultra careful with dd, checking up on her skin in between visits by phone. There should be a properly programmed usage and build up. I just wouldn't trust myself to do this properly. They are not your normal uv tanning tubes....they are very expensive.

You need to get a referral for uv. Keep going back to the Gp until they listen or at least send you to the derm nurse. I found the derm nurses SO knowledgable and helpful. I learnt a huge amount about applying moisturiser properly (which I believe is why dd is still clear now). They also make you fill in a mental well being questionnaire every visit.

There are plenty of things out there that will help - its just a case of finding 'your' thing. For instance, I know someone who gets relief from scalp psoriasis from Baking Soda and vinegar! I also know people who take Fish Oil tablets religiously.

I really recommend having a good look at www.psorasis-association.org.uk

They are the foremost, up to date place for information and support. Invaluable. They are my chosen charity

Sorry, this post is soooooo long.