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Which Psoriasis Treatment Is Right for Me?
4 of 5 • Explore diverse psoriasis treatments, including topicals, light therapy, pills, and biologics. Dr. Adel Haque explains how each targets inflammation uniquely for effective management.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:02
Dr. Adel Haque
I think if you ask 10 dermatologists what’s their favorite treatment is for psoriasis today, they’ll give you 10 different answers.
Justina Ray
What are different types of treatment for psoriasis? How do I know which one will work for me?
Dr. Adel Haque
That’s a great question. There’s a ton of different treatments for psoriasis, so we can do topical treatments, topical steroids, nonsteroidal alternatives.
00:00:21:02 - 00:00:42:16
Dr. Adel Haque
There’s two new medicines that have come out. Coal tar is an old treatment for it. Vitamin D analogs. There’s also light therapy, or phototherapy. There’s two types of that that we can do as well. There’s pills that we can take, including old medications called DMARDs, which are antirheumatic agents that we can use as well, and then there’s newer treatments like the biologics that have come to the market that target different forms of disease.
00:00:42:18 - 00:00:58:12
Dr. Adel Haque
It’s hard to say exactly what’s going to work great because all of these target inflammation in a different way. We really are in a great age to treat your disease.
Justina Ray
That’s awesome.
Learn more and connect at MyPsoriasisTeam.com.
“We live in the golden age of psoriasis treatments,” Dr. Adel Haque, a board-certified dermatologist, told Justina Ray, a mom of two and a teacher who lives with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
“I think if you ask 10 dermatologists what their favorite treatment is for psoriasis today, they’ll give you 10 different answers,” Dr. Haque said.
With so many options available, “how do I know which one will work for me?” Justina asked.
As Dr. Haque explained, there are dozens of options for treating psoriasis. The right treatment for you will depend on lots of factors, including how severe your symptoms are. Below are some of the options your doctor might consider.
Topical options can include topical steroids and nonsteroid alternatives, Dr. Haque explained. Some people see improvement with topicals alone, but you may need other treatments if topicals don’t give you enough relief.
There are many psoriasis treatments you can take as a pill. Some are older treatments that have been around for decades, and some are newer medications that have been recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some of these also treat joint pain.
Biologics are injected medications used to block inflammation. Your doctor may recommend a biologic if your condition is severe or if other treatments haven’t helped. Biologics can also help treat joint pain: “I wanted a biologic to treat my joint pain and my plaque psoriasis. That was really important for me,” Justina shared.
Phototherapy, or light therapy, uses special types of ultraviolet (UV) light to help slow the growth of skin cells. Shining this light on patches of psoriasis can help reduce itching and scaling. People usually need several treatments each week to see the best results.
“It’s hard to say exactly [which treatment is] going to work great because all of these target inflammation in a different way,” Dr. Haque explained. Like Justina, you may have to try several options before landing on the right treatment or combination of treatments.
In the course of her time living with psoriasis, Justina has tried topical, oral, and biologic medications for her condition. “It’s been trial and error,” she said. “The combination of the ointment and the injection have seemed to be the best.”
MyPsoriasisTeam is the social network for people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and those who care for them.
How did you find the right psoriasis treatment? Did you try several treatments before getting relief? Start the conversation by leaving a comment below or posting on your Activities page.
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