Psoriasis vulgaris “is a chronic, recurrent, erythematous, inflammatory disorder involving keratin synthesis.”*

Recently, more people have been moving towards natural and alternative treatments for getting rid of psoriasis. But not all methods of medication work equally well for everyone. So if you do decide to go with more traditional medication methods, you should be familiar with the following drug therapies used in the conventional medical management of psoriasis:

Topical Corticosteroids: suppresses inflammation and pruritus. Apply immediately after soaking skin.

Injected Corticosteroids: suppresses inflammation, stops pruritus. Usually small injections given to the site of the lesion. Possible side-effects: infection, atrophy, hypopigmentation and sometimes even ulceration.

Tar Compounds: for antimitotic and anti-inflammatory effect.

Keratolytic agents (e.g., salycylic acid): removes scales, allows for greater penetration of topical agents.

Anthralin: topical therapy for plaque- and lesion-based psoriasis.

Sedative antihistamines: to suppress pruritus, allay anxiety and help sleep through its sedating effects.

Oral Antibiotics: in order to treat secondary Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Etretinate: Modifies immune response. Useful in pustular and erythrodermic psoriasis. Not so useful in chronic, plaque-type psoriasis. The drug lasts a long time in the body so it is administered with caution and not used much in women of child-bearing age.

Antimetabolites (e.g., methotrexate): inhibits DNA synthesis, works best in small doses on psoriasis that doesn’t respond to any topical therapies. This treatment is reserved for the most severe cases. Methotrexate has toxic side effects on the renal, hepatic and hematopoietic systems.

While this is just a quick overview, it should get you more familiar with some of the options so that you can do further research on your own. If you have any questions or comments about the use of these therapies, please do leave a comment below. Although nothing on this website constitutes professional medical advice, this site can be used as a community for learning from each others’ experiences with these and other treatments.

*Information for this article adapted from Marcia Jo Hill, M.S.N., R.N., Skin Disorders: Mosby’s Clinical Nursing Series (St.Louis, 1994) p. 30

If you’re searching for information on whether psoramexal works, this is the place to be. With our new live chat and comments functions, you will be able to read what others have to say about psoramexal’s efficacy and side effects. So bookmark and come back again. But leave your own thoughts and experience with Psoramexal skin care gel.

How bad of a burning sensation did you receive during and after application?

How many days of application did it take before your itching stopped?  Does it stop the itching?

Did the cream have any positive effect on reducing skin desquamation (lesions or plaques)? How long did that take?

Overall, by how much has psoramexal improved your day-to-day living? None, a little, some, significantly, a lot?

To order Psoramexal’s complete care pack is about $150 USD, so while that might still be affordable, it’s no small chunk of change. It’s true that Psoramexal contains no steroids or artificial colors or smells, but what else is in it? It doesn’t seem as though the ingredients are posted very transparently on their website. If you own Psoramexal, though, you can tell us. You can also read my previous post on Psoramexal here.