What causes psoriasis?
The simple answer is that nobody really knows. So many people claim to know
what causes psoriasis, but nobody has any proof or evidence. Any person or web
page that claims to have a "cure" for psoriasis should be treated with caution.
You will also find that you can "trigger" your psoriasis. Your trigger may be
stress, it might also be a food or the environment.
What can I do for free to reduce my psoriasis?
The first step is reducing the severity of your psoriasis, is toDRINK LOTS OF
WATER. Drink at least 2 litres a day. The second step is to IMPROVE YOUR DIET
and eat lots of green leafy vegetables. This will not cure your psoriasis, but
it may dramatically reduce it. You will find each doctor or dermatologist will
give different advice. That is because they have probably found something that
works for a variety of their patients. It is not uncommon for dermatologists to
try a combination of treatments until they find one that works particularly well
for you its basically trial and error! The following foods are popular triggers
(worsen psoriasis) Coca-Cola, red wine, red meat, MSG, chilli, hot spices,
junk foods, oily foods, berries (such as strawberries) tomato, most acidic foods
and vitamin-c. People with poor diets will likely have much worse psoriasis.
Do psoriasis diets alone really work?
The short answer is no, not generally. It has been proven that a
good diet (less of the foods mentioned above,) lots of water and lots of
vegetables, a good multi vitamin tablet and also zinc tablets daily can help
reduce psoriasis, it is not a recognised treatment, nor a cure. Any results from
a diet are probably due to increased general health, and the REMOVAL of
unhealthy foods - not the inclusion of magic foods. Acidic foods in particular
have been proven to worsen psoriasis, so simply eliminating these from your
existing diet will improve your psoriasis as much as any "wonder diet" could.
Seen the magic psoriasis cure in the local newspaper that worked for me?
They are often flooded with testimonials like thanks for saving me, I've tried
everything, but your product is fantastic. Don't be misled by advertisements
asking for $7.95 for a magical detoxification diet booklet that will cure your
psoriasis forever. The magical diet will probably just be drink lots of water,
and improve your diet. The National Psoriasis Foundation states “Special diets have not been successful in completely treating psoriasis, except in isolated cases. If a complete cure was that simple, nobody would have psoriasis and your doctor would have the answer.”
If only it were that simple. Psoriasis has been known about for at least five
thousand years and if any particular nutrient had been proved to be beneficial,
surely we would all have heard about it by now! See
what we have to say about diets here.
Magic psoriasis cures, do they really work?
The drug industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Drugs exist for almost
every purpose imaginable. Drug companies WANT to sell you drugs. Drug company's
want to sell YOU, THEIR drugs. If there was a drug that "cured" psoriasis, then
every drug company in the world would manufacture and sell that drug. They would
also advertise the drug. It would be the same drug available from everyday
doctor and pharmacist in the world. Therefore, if a real psoriasis "cure"
existed, it would be extremely widely known and advertised. Since every magic
cure is a "secret formula" and not manufactured by a mainstream drug company,
we can safely and easily assume that there is no real benefit from using the
products (and paying for them.) It is illogical and unethical not to list all
ingredients in a medical or homeopathic product. In the case of an allergy,
allergic reaction or poisoning there is little that can be done.
Basically most of these wonder products are either just a plagiarized diet
book (i.e. all the same) or an expensive moisturizing cream. We investigated
hundreds of different "wonder products" and the common ingredient is always the
same Coal Tar. Check the ingredients yourself in the psoriasis products at your
pharmacist. The benefits of Coal Tar have been known for many years (hundreds
actually!!) So why not purchase a quality coal tar product from your pharmacist?
They come in lotions, bath additives, soap blocks and moisturizers. If you want
a moisturizer for dry and itchy psoriasis we have found Sorbolene to be very
good . It's a glycerine based product that is very gentle, particularly on
painful psoriasis. DO NOT JUST USE ANY OLD MOISTURIZER, OR SKIN OIL. They will
often cause more problems than they solve. Be very careful what you actually put
on your psoriasis. Often oil based products will INFLAME your psoriasis and make
it worse.
Coal Tar ONLY treats the inflammation, not the cause, and will do nothing to
prevent your psoriasis occurring. We recommend using Coal Tar products in
conjunction with our UVB treatment for best results. Coal Tar should relieve the
itchiness, swelling and some flaking, but it only offers temporary relief. There
is a common misbelief that Coal Tar causes cancer, which is simply not true.
The FDA says a coal tar solution of between 1-5% has been proven as a safe
product.
Why is UV treatment for psoriasis so popular?
UV phototherapy is the simplest and easiest treatment with the best general
results for clearing psoriasis. There is also no direct side effects (but be
careful of sunburn which can increase the risk of skin
cancer.) UVB light is NOT the light found in tanning salons and solariums.
That is UVA light. Sitting in a tanning salon for hours will do little or
nothing for your psoriasis. What about skin cancer? There is not a single case
of documented skin cancer caused by narrow band UVB phototherapy treatment. It
is safer than the old style wide band light, and
significantly safer than normal sun exposure UVA or PUVA phototherapy.
Several studies have been unable to find any link between narrow band UVB
treatment and skin cancer. People who are predisposed to skin cancer can have
skin cancer on parts of their body that have never been exposed to UV light,
such as in the arm pits and soles of the feet.
Psoriasis is a chronic (long-lasting) skin disease characterized by scaling
and inflammation. Scaling occurs when cells in the outer layer of the skin
reproduce faster than normal and pile up on the skin s surface.
Products for the treatment of psoriasis
We offer a variety of products for treatment of psoriasis. Please
click here to see all products or here for the
Dermaray UV treatment comb.
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