maandag 4 november 2013

Why Mild Psoriasis Can Be Treated Naturally



Mild psoriasis can often be treated without the need for the harsh drugs which can lead to severe side effects and even extra medical conditions to deal with. Psoriasis is fundamentally incurable, although there are incidents of guttate psoriasis clearing up on its own accord. What can be achieved is a lessening of the symptoms and the living of a normal life.

A large part of the problem in coming up with a permanent cure is that science has not yet identified what causes the immune system to react in the way it does. Until this is known, there is little to work with. Understanding psoriasis can be the first important step in trying to lessen the effect it will have on your life. It is known that a malfunctioning of the immune system causes the attacks to happen, but it is also known that avoiding factors which aggravate the immune system can lessen the incidence of attacks. The immune system is one of the most vital systems of the human body, and it is not known why it can suddenly mistake the human skin for something hostile. A similar phenomenon happens with food allergies, but at least these are triggered by an outside factor.

Psoriasis is a condition which is sub-divided into many different types, and each of these types can have varying degrees of severity. The guttate psoriasis which afflicts young people can go one of two different ways. It can either clear up without any known reason, or it can worsen and become another case of plaque psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of the disease, and it is often difficult to control. A mild case, though,will often respond to lifestyle changes, and these should always be implemented before anything else is done.

A case of mild psoriasis may never need drug treatments, if it is looked after properly from the start. The first essential factor in this is to avoid anything which is likely to trigger an attack. An injury to the skin is the most obvious trigger of all, and this is likely to be easy to avoid unless you happen to be working outside doing hard physical labor. Even if you are not working that hard, you can still trigger an attack if you spend too much time in strong sunlight. Stay out of the sun when it is at its strongest, protect yourself properly when you do go outside, and get air to the skin at less dangerous times.

Once the obvious threats to the skin are eliminated, it is time to work on your lifestyle. Try first of all to avoid anything which puts extra pressure on the immune system and the rest of the body. The greatest risk factor is cigarette smoking, so give this up if you possibly can. Late nights, excessive mental stress, alcohol, drugs which are prescribed for other conditions, and an unhealthy diet can all increase the likelihood of you becoming the victim of another psoriasis attack.

The dietary factor is one which must be made right, as everyone has to eat food to survive. Start by eliminating the excesses of saturated fat, refined sugar and salt which the body has difficulty dealing with. Try to make sure that you take in enough of the essential vitamins and minerals by eating a lot of raw fruit and vegetables. Vitamin C is the main vitamin which the immune system uses when it is trying to fight off an illness, and the most important mineral is zinc.

When you have optimized your diet to deal with mild psoriasis, you will probably find that you can cope with daily life without much trouble. If you can avoid overworking and keep yourself mentally calm and peaceful, you will also find that your life becomes easier to cope with. Any attacks can be made less painful by using soothing creams and lotions on the skin when the pain starts. Many of these creams and lotions are made from derivatives of vitamins in any case. The mildest cases of psoriasis can be kept under control with just these measures, and will not need any drug treatments which will carry the risk of severe side effects.

There will be times when mild psoriasis will appear to be turning into something more serious, and there is no doubt that these will be a cause of worry. The worry can obviously exacerbate the condition, so try to stay as calm as possible. The best way to approach this possible situation is by knowing in advance what you will do. If you can keep the body as relaxed as possible, apply soothing cream to the external skin, and continue to follow a sensible diet, you may never need to do anything more than keep dealing with occasional attacks of mild psoriasis.
Psoriasis pictures


 

How Psoriasis Cream Can Ease Symptoms



Psoriasis cream treatments can be a valuable addition to any program of care for this debilitating skin condition, but it is important to realize that for optimum results the condition needs to be treated both internally and externally. To understand the reasons for this, you will need to be able to see how the human immune system can cause skin problems.


The exact cause of the condition is unknown, because no-one can determine exactly why the immune system should suddenly regard the skin as a threat. The phenomenon is fundamentally similar to the way the body reacts when there is a food allergy, but that is easier to understand as it is a reaction to a foreign body. What is known is that the immune system reacts to something, and causes the skin to be renewed at a far faster rate. This, in turn, leads to flaking and pink skin coming loose. The red skin underneath can also be extremely sore and painful, and this can often mean that you will need to modify your lifestyle and work habits. There is also a known hereditary factor, in that people from the same family as a psoriasis sufferer are far more likely to develop the condition.

Although creams can be used to soothe the skin, and lessen the effect of an attack when it happens, they can only play a small part in the overall management of psoriasis. There is much more which will need to be done if the incidence of attack is to be reduced to the minimum. You will need to start by making sure that the body is not exposed to any more risk factors than it needs to be. The most obvious risk factor is anything which can injure the skin, even if the potential injury is a long way from the area where the psoriasis typically flares up.

Sunlight can also affect the skin dramatically, if it is strong enough and sustained for a long time. If you are someone who needs to work outside, make sure that you use as much skin protection as you can, and cover up any sensitive areas. This is even more important if you have a psoriasis of the scalp, where it will be directly in the glare of the sun. The head will need to be protected, even if that means wearing a cap which stops air getting to the scalp.

While psoriasis cream can help greatly to lessen the effects of sunburn on the affected areas, it will have far more effect in combating the actual condition if there is no sunburn to deal with. Cream will also be far more effective if it is used in conjunction with sound dietary and lifestyle practices. It is never a good idea to rely on a cream to be a cure all, and especially not to cope with any bad habits you may need to eradicate. Smoking, heavy drinking, late nights mind overworking, and poor diet are all risk factors which need to be eliminated.

If you have managed to eliminate the risk factors from your diet, and started to base your food consumption on fresh food, you will already be taking large quantities of the essential vitamins and minerals into your body. It can never do any harm, though, to supplement this with dietary supplements. Interestingly, many of the creams which are used in the treatment of psoriasis are also based on the same vitamins, especially vitamins A and D. These creams will never cure the condition, and they can only do so much, but if the body is fundamentally healthy their effect will be enhanced.

These psoriasis cream treatments can be especially effective in situations where the psoriasis is mild. Where it is severe, it will need to be controlled with drugs or with ultraviolet lighting. Your physician will usually prescribe drugs which are milder than steroids in the first instance, and then only switch to steroids when these don't prove strong enough to handle the symptoms. Steroids are not to be used any more often than is absolutely necessary. This is because extended use can cause the condition to actually worsen. If you suspect this is happening, switch to another treatment immediately.

You can still apply a psoriasis cream no matter how many drug treatments you are using, as these will attempt to operate from the inside. If you are having ultraviolet light treatments, though, you will need to leave out any treatments which may aggravate the skin. Hopefully, the skin condition can be improved enough to allow you to manage it with safer methods in the future. If this happens, you can always resume your treatments with cream, whether you are using drugs internally or not. The new biologic drugs can be used in conjunction with any psoriasis cream.

Why Pustular Psoriasis Can Be Difficult To Control.



Pustular psoriasis is one of the rarest types of this debilitating skin condition, but it is also one of the most difficult to live with. This is because of the pus-filled blisters which appear on the skin, and which can often be painful until they run their course and disappear.

The treatments for this type of psoriasis will need to be fundamentally different from those for plaque psoriasis, even though the root cause if the condition is probably the same. There are revolutionary treatments which can help, but it is important not to rely on them exclusively. Before you work out a plan for controlling your psoriasis in conjunction with a physician, it is as well to understand how the disease develops and what causes it. Although the underlying cause has not yet been determined by medical science, it is known that the immediate cause is a reaction by the immune system. This is common to all types of psoriasis, even those such as guttate psoriasis which have other contributing factors. The fact that the immune system is at work means that it is necessary to use both internal and external methods to try to keep the condition under control.



The various psoriasis types all need to be treated in a different way, but there are some common themes. All types will respond best when the body is in a state of relaxation and when the body is receiving all of the nutrients it needs. Poor lifestyle choices such as cigarette smoking can only serve to deplete the levels of vital nutrients in the body and make the recovery more difficult. Avoid this if you can, and also avoid exposing the skin to danger from injury, or from extremely strong sunlight. Protect the skin if you need to work outside for long periods.

These considerations are even more important if you have the rare condition of erythrodermic psoriasis, which is a psoriasis that can affect the whole of the skin in the most severe way possible. This is the most extreme of all the types of psoriasis, as the entire body is affected. The itching or burning sensations can totally prevent the sufferer from being able to continue with their working day, and they can have a severe effect on the body. The body can quickly become depleted of vital nutrients and water. It is vital to make sure that protein foods are constantly eaten, and that water is consumed regularly.

Even with the slightly less condition of pustular psoriasis there is a chance that nutrients will be lost from the body. It is important for any psoriasis sufferer to follow a healthy diet based on natural, water rich foods, but it is even more important when the psoriasis is so severe that it depletes nutrients. Base your diet around the fresh fruit and vegetables which will keep your vitamin and mineral intake high, but also take in protein foods as protein is often lost through the blisters.

Even when the correct diet and lifestyle choices have been made, there will still be any cases of psoriasis which will need further treatment. This will usually mean a course of drugs, although it could be ultraviolet light treatment. The most common and most effective drugs against psoriasis are the steroids, although these have to be used with caution. If they are used for too long, they can aggravate the condition and make it even worse than it was before. Drug treatments also have severe side effects as they affect the whole of the body and not just the immune system.

There is now a certain type of drug which offers the possibility of pustular psoriasis sufferers being treated in a far more gentle way, with a drug that targets the immune system directly and therefore greatly reduces the risk of serious side effects. These are the biologic drugs, such as Stelara psoriasis treatment. A biologic drug will not affect the other organs in the body as it can be directed toward the immune system specifically. There are still potential side effects even with this drug, including the possibility of an increased risk of cancer. If the condition is serious, even this risk will be worth taking.

The best way to approach a condition such as pustular psoriasis is to determine to do enough to keep the condition at bay so you can live a normal life, but no more than is necessary. If you resort to drug treatments too soon, you can be upsetting the balance of your body's nutrients and actually doing yourself harm. It is best to start with the natural methods of healing, as these can sometimes be enough to allow you to control the condition for long periods of time. Sometimes, natural methods will be enough to control pustular psoriasis.