Psoriasis
A long-term inflammatory skin disease that produces red, thickened patches covered with silvery-white scales.
Being updatedThe clinic is checking this page against its current practice. Everything here is from the patient leaflet; please ask at your consultation before you rely on a detail.
What it is
Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease that produces red, thickened areas covered with silvery-white scales, most often on the scalp, elbows, knees and lower back. It affects nearly one per cent of the population. Small red spots gradually enlarge and collect powdery silvery scales, and if the flakes are removed the tender skin underneath bleeds. Palms and soles may be involved on their own. Patches usually appear on both sides of the body, and the face is often spared.
Nails with psoriasis have tiny pits on them, and may loosen, thicken or crumble. About seven per cent of patients also have arthritis, which in most people is not too severe. Guttate psoriasis affects children and young adults, often after a sore throat, with multiple drop-like spots; it usually clears in a few weeks or months.
What causes it
The exact cause is not known. In psoriasis the skin sheds itself too rapidly, every three to four days. It can be hereditary in up to one in ten patients. New spots often appear 10 to 14 days after the skin is cut, scratched, rubbed or badly sunburned. Streptococcal sore throat and some medicines can set it off, and flare-ups often come in winter with remissions in summer. Psoriasis cannot be passed from one person to another, and diet generally plays no part.
How we treat it
Dermatologists diagnose psoriasis by examining the skin, nails and scalp, and may take a skin biopsy. The aim of treatment is to reduce inflammation and slow the rapid cell division. Treatment depends on your health, age, lifestyle and how severe the psoriasis is, and several visits may be needed.
Your doctor may prescribe moisturising creams and lotions, corticosteroids, tar, salicylic acid, anthralin or calcipotriol to apply. Severe psoriasis may need oral medicines — methotrexate, retinoids or cyclosporine — under very careful supervision, or PUVA, which is psoralen with ultraviolet light therapy. Localised plaques can also be treated with targeted phototherapy. Used alone or in combination, these treatments can clear or greatly improve psoriasis in most people, but psoriasis is a long-term condition and it can come back.
Written from the clinic's own patient leaflet, by Dr. D. A. Satish.
Common questions
- What skin conditions do you treat?
- The clinic's own patient leaflets cover acne and acne scarring, psoriasis, vitiligo, lichen planus and lichen planus pigmentosus, rosacea, urticaria, hidradenitis suppurativa, pityriasis rosea and keratolysis exfoliativa; fungal infections including tinea and pityriasis versicolor; shingles, cold sores, warts, scabies and molluscum contagiosum; male- and female-pattern hair loss; and the skin signs of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Dr Satish's stated special interests are clinical dermatology, acne, aesthetic dermatology and photodermatology.
- Do you see children?
- Yes. Several of the clinic's leaflets deal with conditions common in children — pityriasis rosea, tinea capitis on the scalp, keratolysis exfoliativa and guttate psoriasis. Dr Satish is a life member of the Indian Society for Paediatric Dermatology and served as its President in 2003–2004. Dr Lakshmi Satish was Honorary ENT Consultant at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health for eleven years, and paediatric ENT is one of her special interests.
- Can my skin condition be cured?
- That depends entirely on the condition, and your doctor will tell you honestly what to expect. Some conditions clear completely with treatment — fungal infections, scabies and pityriasis versicolor among them. Some settle on their own, such as pityriasis rosea, which takes six to eight weeks. Others are long-term conditions that treatment controls rather than cures: Dr Satish's psoriasis leaflet states plainly that treatment can clear or greatly improve psoriasis in most cases but does not cure it. This clinic does not guarantee a cure or a specific outcome for any treatment.
Related
- PUVA phototherapyPsoralen, a medicine that makes the skin sensitive to light, combined with ultraviolet A light in a special machine.
- Targeted phototherapyUltraviolet light delivered straight onto a skin lesion through a hand piece, leaving healthy skin untouched.
Please note
The information on this website is for general education only. It is not a substitute for a consultation, a diagnosis or a prescription. Always see a qualified doctor about your own condition.
Results of any medical or cosmetic treatment vary from person to person. This clinic does not guarantee a cure or a specific outcome.