Managing/eliminating psoriasis
Has anyone found a means of successfully managing psoriasis? I have two fairly large (1-2" in diameter) patches of psoriasis on my scalp, and am currently on sulfasalazine, which apparently helps manage my arthritis but not the psoriasis. I shave my head, use nizoral shampoo 2-3 times per week (I lather it on my scap and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before rinsing), supplement with vitamin D (formerly 20,000 IU/day, and more recently reduced to 5,000 IU/day after my doctor informed me that my vitamin D levels were slightly elevated), take two or three 10-15 minute walks outside daily to expose my scalp to the sun, and occasionally remove obnoxiously large, loose plaques after soaking my scalp or applying coconut oil. Usually if I am really sticking to my routine and it's not been a cloudy week, the plaques don't seem to build up. While all of this seems to have helped improve the severity of my psoriasis, nothing I do seems to eliminate it. Also, it seems as though plaque formation accelerates and declines, and while sometimes I think it's related to whether I am sticking to my routine, I think there are probably other reasons and I just haven't made sense of them. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Eric
I use a clobetasol solution on my scalp psoriasis. I apply it Monday-Thursday, skip Friday-Sunday. Repeat each week.
It works really well for me.
Thanks Jill for the tip. I have tried that in the past for my psoriasis but it has been a few years, so I will ask my Rheumatologist about using clobetasol during my next appointment.
Update: I switched over to MG217 coal tar shampoo, and have been applying arnica infused with pulverized aspirin. Not sure which one is actually doing anything, but the psoriasis seem have improved over the past month or two.
I switched over to MG217, and have also been applying arnica gel laced with pulverized arpirin tablets. The two plaques on my scalp have gotten much better, although they're still there...
