Home Remedies and Treatment of Psoriasis: What You Can Do

Psoriasis is a skin disease where the skin cells tend to develop faster than normal, resulting in a pile-up on the skin. These pile-ups can be of different types and appearances based on the location where it occurs. This skin condition has no actual cure as of the moment. However, different home remedies and treatment of psoriasis are prescribed by doctors and dermatologists to relieve symptoms and reduce the severity of this condition. 

Home Remedies and Treatment of Psoriasis

Here is a list of some home remedies for Psoriasis. These remedies can help alleviate symptoms of psoriasis but should not replace doctor-prescribed treatment. Stop immediately if you experience any adverse effects or if your condition worsens. Always consult your doctor before making any major changes in your lifestyle.

Salt Bath

A warm bath containing Epsom salt is effective in soothing the skin and relieving symptoms of psoriasis. The relief can be felt after every 20-minute bath daily for three weeks. Fun fact, according to a small clinical trial, bathing in the Dead Sea relieves psoriasis the most. 

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera extract in creams helps reduce the itchiness and redness of the skin with psoriasis. However, it might take several months of use to see the improvement.

Omega-3

Eating foods  rich in Omega-3 helps decrease inflammation in the body and skin. Some food items with Omega-3 include flaxseed oil, nuts, seeds, soy, and fatty fish. Fish oil supplements are also available but the intake should be monitored because an intake of more than three grams can thin your blood. 

Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Having excess weight increases the risk of having severe psoriasis, as well as other metabolic diseases. Losing weight helps in controlling  the symptoms of this skin disease.

Stress-Relieving Activities

Stress is one of the known triggers of psoriasis. Finding activities that relieve stress helps decrease the likelihood and severity of psoriasis flares.

Use a Humidifier and Moisturizer

Applying moisturizers and using a humidifier can prevent dryness of the skin, prevent cracks, and avoid the worsening of the condition.

Sunlight Exposure

Brief exposure to sunlight is beneficial for medicating Psoriasis as it helps reduce skin inflammation and itchiness.

Treatments for Psoriasis

If home remedies did not show any improvement, you can rely on these treatments that can be done ot prescribed by medical professionals. Always consult your doctor. 

Topical therapy

This is the usual treatment for psoriasis of all severities. Topical therapy uses creams and ointments to treat the skin condition, but it may take weeks or months to see the results. The following cream and ointments included under topical therapy are the following:

• Corticosteroids
• Vitamin D Analogues
• Calcineurin Inhibitors
• Dithranol
• Coal Tar

Light Therapy

Also called phototherapy, this uses artificial light to treat psoriasis in a way that is not similar to sunbathing. In this therapy, the light contains only a specific wavelength of light unlike natural sunlight, which contains multiple wavelengths at once. The different kinds of phototherapy are:

• Broadband ultraviolet B 
• Narrowband ultraviolet B 
• Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA)
• Excimer laser or lamp

Systemic Treatment

This treatment is for patients with moderate to severe disease in whom topicals alone do not show any effectiveness. In this treatment, oral or injected drugs will be prescribed by doctors. However, severe side effects can be felt. People who are planning to get pregnant and are breastfeeding are recommended to ask their doctors first to know the kind of medication that suits their situation. 

Under this are two types of systemic treatment – biological and non-biological.

Biological. These are medications usually given as injections.

• Etanercept
• Adalimumab
• Infliximab
• Ustekinumab
• Secukinumab
• Guselkumab
• Ixekizumab

Non-biological. These are oral medications given as tablets or capsules. 

• Methotrexate
• Ciclosporin
• Retinoids like acitretin

Home remedies and treatments of psoriasis can be done at the same time to achieve better results in a shorter period of time. The combination of these remedies and treatments are difficult to determine because psoriasis varies in its severity, and the skin type of the person is also a factor.

Learn more about Psoriasis here.