As with all skin types, treating the skin gently and not using skin-care products containing irritants that cause inflammation is extremely important. It is even more important for those with psoriasis; because this skin condition is an inflammatory condition, reducing inflammation becomes even more critical. Gentle cleansers, products that help soothe skin, not scrubbing the skin, and avoiding anything that dries the skin and disrupts the skin’s barrier are essential as a starting point. Protecting the skin’s barrier with emollients, antioxidants, skin-identical ingredients, and cell-communicating ingredients (retinol) can allow skin to heal and help maintain the natural defense healthy skin can provide. In essence you need to follow the skin-care routine for your skin type in terms of dryness or oiliness as recommended in this book. Following those steps will help you create a healthy starting point for the other medications your doctor may select for you.
As a rule, the best place to start is with treatments that pose the least risk and have the least side effects. Topical prescription creams and lotions are the preferred way to begin as they generally are the most benign and can be extremely helpful. If that treatment doesn’t work the next step would be sun exposure or exposure to sun lamps. Due to its immune – suppressing and skin cell-damaging effects, ultraviolet radiation can control psoriasis. If that fails, oral medications or injections are the final approach. A curve ball in treatment is that the body can become resistant to the medications and lesions can start showing up again after a long period of remission, requiring a new round of experimenting to find what works.