Treatments

What you need to know

• Treatment for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is tailored to your symptoms, the areas affected, your general health and how the condition affects your daily life.
• Options can include topical treatments, phototherapy, tablets, injections and other specialist treatments.
• What works for one person may not be right for another, so treatment decisions should be made with your healthcare professional.
• It can take time to find the most effective treatment, and you should discuss any side effects, concerns or changes in symptoms with your care team.
• Alongside medical treatment, practical support and healthy lifestyle choices may help you manage the impact of psoriatic disease day to day.

An overview:

The type of treatment you might receive can vary, but are generally defined as a course of action which is adopted to deal with an illness, disease, condition or medically related problem affecting an individual.

Treatments are not just confined to taking a pill or potion, but depending on your circumstances and the view of your healthcare provider, might include the following:

• Topical – applied to the skin such as creams and ointments
• Systemic – taken internally such as tablets, liquids for pain relief and disease modifying
• Injections – for pain relief, therapeutic symptom relief and disease modifying
• Physical therapy – such as manipulation of joints, exercise or acupuncture
• Surgery – to repair, replace or remove parts of the human anatomy
• Light treatment – the use of natural or artificial light to change the course or progression of disease
• Mechanical pain relief – traction to stretch or the use of external application of electric current for pain relief such as TENS machines
• Talking therapies – such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Self help - using some form of guidance such as instructional booklets or educational material to understand and cope
• Complementary – a therapy that is not considered mainstream, but may complement conventional therapy and might include supplements to diet

You now might like to view the psoriasis treatments page or the psoriatic arthritis treatments page. These give more detail on the current treatments with links to individual data sheets.