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Child Item

Psoriasis

Sykk

Hey all,

So I have been to around 4 different doctors over a skin condition I've had for around a year. 2 didn't know and 2 said I have psoriasis. It's very annoying, looks bad, and has a chance of spreading...

I have it on some parts of my head and the doctor told me there is no cure for it, it's only containable.

I have done some looking up on the web about cures, and some people say it's not cureable, some say it is. I have yet to go to a dermatolisist (I've one booked) or a chinese herbalist.

Does anyone else have this skin problem? If so what are you taking for it? And does anyone know if it's actually cureable or not.

Thanks in advance.

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Gael23

wonga77 wrote: »

Yeah the Moogoo had zero effect for me, creams anyway. Shampoo made my scalp drier and much worse

I find it really hard to get a shampoo that doesn't make me scalp drier than it already is, even ones that are supposed to be moisturising

rubadub

Some people might wrap their arms to either keep creams from drying out, or to protect fabric or furniture if it is staining, like coal tar or dithrocream, or sudocrem.

They usually recommend cling film.
atlanta-more-than-skin-deep-slide-set-may-2-2015-43-638.jpg?cb=1432245696

atlanta-more-than-skin-deep-slide-set-may-2-2015-43-638.jpg?cb=1432245696

I got thin disposable rubber gloves (not latex, less stretchy stuff) and I cut the fingers off and was able to pull it up my arm and it stays put. I imagine I will get a few goes before it tears. You could do the same with washing up gloves, and they would be longer, you can get them in different sizes so a small one might do my forearm, and large for upper arm, these could be washed and resused and should last. If doing this you should cut carefully, if there is a jagged edge it is more likely to "run" when stretched and create a long tear.

Audioslaven wrote: »

Just wondering has anyone get a UV-B lamp that they use at home. If so how did you find it and where did you get if from

if you search this thread for the word dermalight you will find several posts about them. I made my own fittings and bought the proper philips bulb that most small ones use, I just rebuilt it the other day so now the heavy & hot electronic ballast is remote, so I only have to hold the weight of the bulb, its fitting and a light plastic shroud. I am also going to fit bands to it so it can be held in place without having to hold it. Something similar to this

The lamps go on sale on adverts the odd time. If you spot one link it and I will tell if its appropriate or not. When I got mine there was only really good ones available, now there are several dodgy ones I would avoid.

They can be got on amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dermalight-Comb-Psoriasis-Treatment-Medically-Certified/dp/B0069RLGM4/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1491307046&sr=8-1&keywords=dermalight

brevity

I used to cling film my legs after applying a load of moisturiser. It helped with the itching but it's such a chore.

Be careful if you are doing it on your legs - if you do it too tightly, it could introduce a clot.

rubadub

The gloves I was using were vinyl, I see dealz do 20 (10 pairs) for 1.50, mine were not dealz so cannot comment on them

http://www.dealz.ie/lily-vinyl-disposbable-gloves-20-pack

I have used tight fitting thermal clothing to keep looser things in place.

Ronney

Just ordered up a home light there.

Just wondering what approach people took and found most effective. I know everyones skin is different but any advice is appreciated

Morning/evening/post shower etc?
Moisturise before After?
Use any other creams, dovobet/gel in conjunction?
Frequency/length of time exposed/Amounts to increase between treatments?
How close to skin for bulb?

Gael23

I don't think time of day really matters.
Moisturise afterwards, never use other creams at the same time or even that day but otherwise it should be fine to use some on any stubborn bits. I don't know about length of time but I would say 2/3 exposures a week is enough and never have the light in direct contact with your skin

Kurtosis

Mod note

A reminder that medical advice is not permitted, either asking how you should use a treatment or suggesting how others should use a treatment. Sharing your experiences is fine however.

Any clarification needed, please PM me or another mod, don't respond on thread.

Mountainsandh

I like to read about cells and biology, to try and understand what happens with psoriasis, even though my comprehension is limited of course.
tl:dr : this guy seems serious, and his page is very interesting.

I found this very interesting web page this evening, after reading a few genuine scientific studies on the influence of diet on psoriasis and auto-immune disease in general.
The links with diet are not clear, but it all seems to come back to T-cells and Tregs every time. There were no spectacular conclusions.

T-cells from what I understand are your normal white blood cells, killer cells among others, and Tregs are the cells that regulate killer cells. A lot of killer cells and regulators activity takes place in the gut, but also in the pancreas, brain, lymph nodes ...

The studies I was reading were looking at elevated levels of killer cells near psoriatic lesions, in the skin, and how this might correlate with dietary changes, in that diet can enhance or reduce the production of Tregs (the regulatory cells).

These Tregs in turn might help killer cells either regulate, or transform into cells that we, as psoriasis sufferers, either want, or want to avoid.

So all the studies concluded that there was something important going on there with white blood cells, and how effective or defective our bodies were at regulating or transforming them. Diets high or low in probiotics, vitamins A and D, fatty acids, and gluten free diets were looked at.

I came across this guy's page after heavy medical reading, and there he is, apparently explaining in very easy language some very complicated biology concepts.
I can only confirm on what I read this evening, and in a global sort of way (details too hard to understand), that he seems to truthfully follow the results of medical studies to draw the conclusions and simplify on his page.
In other words, I'd trust him.

But I'll let you make up your own minds, I just thought this might be interesting for others :
https://selfhacked.com/2014/11/11/treg/

rubadub

Saw some interesting studies on UVB frequency, as in times per week.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16987261

Comparison of weekly and daily incremental protocols of narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy for psoriasis.

CONCLUSION:
The application of daily dose increments was no better than that of weekly dose increments in narrowband UVB treatment for psoriasis. Therefore, although our results may need to be supported by large-series studies, we conclude that application of weekly dose increments with a lower cumulative dose having the same efficacy is preferred in narrowband UVB treatment of psoriasis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11068858

Comparison of phototherapy two times and four times a week with low doses of narrow-band ultraviolet B in Asian patients with psoriasis.

RESULTS:
No significant difference was found between the two regimens in the PASI score at the end of treatment

LegacyUser

Hi, I've just been Prescribed enstilar foam, anyone use it? Also does anyone have a rough price on it?
Thanks

rubadub

I found castor oil worked well for moisturizing, my chemist had it behind the counter in a large bottle, it was quite different from other oils I tried, it seemed to cause large flakes to form and come off easily. But castor oil is messy as is very liquidy, it's thicker than cooking oil but still very runny. I have mixed it 1/3 castor, 2/3 petroleum jelly (dealz version of vaseline is cheap, but a bit more runny than vaseline) and it applies better and seems more effective than the pet-jelly on its own. I put them in a little pot and whip it up together with a butter knife, it can separate a little after a few days so just stir again.

Boots do a nappy rash cream which is zinc oxide based and has castor oil. Zinc oxide is what gives sudocrem its white colour, sudocrem has 15.25% zinc oxide. Many nappy rash creams have it but in varying amounts. Sudocrem has loads of other ingredients, but I am not sure I really want/need them, and sudocrem is pretty expensive.

Others in this thread found the boots one very good, its more like vaseline than sudocrem -which is more like toothpaste.

Zinc oxide coincidentally is used as a sun block

When used as an ingredient in sunscreen, zinc oxide blocks both UVA (320–400 nm) and UVB (280–320 nm) rays of ultraviolet light.

The narrowband UVB is 311nm. This means it is ideal for masking off areas of good skin if doing UVB therapy. I use it to mask off good areas, but also afterwards rub that excess cream back into the patch just treated, since it is good for healing the skin you just treated.

I have found zinc oxide powder on ebay, pharmaceutical grade

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zinc-Oxide-99-9-Pharmaceutical-Grade-BP-EP-USP-500g-Highest-Purity-Available-/261250225534?hash=item3cd3ba157e:g:FzEAAOSw8lBTmxYp

500g is £9.49, free delivery to UK, so parcelmotel etc add about 4euro. So its about 15euro with parcel motel fees and currency. If you ask your chemist they might be able to get powder in for you, but that does seem cheap.

I can see a recipe here

https://www.bendsoap.com/blogs/sudsy-scoop/diy-natural-sunscreen-and-after-sun-lotion

DIY Natural Sunscreen Recipe

Ingredients & Materials:

1/2 cup (5 oz.) of Unscented Goat Milk Lotion (get ours here)
2 Tbsp Non-nano zinc oxide (1 oz.)
2 Tbsp Coconut oil (1 oz.)
10-20 drops of natural scent or essential oil (avoid citrus oils)
1 lotion airtight lotion pump (you can purchase ours here for a $1)
1 stainless steel mixing bowl
10-20 drops of carrot seed oil (optional)

So that is 1oz zinc oxide to 6oz of other stuff, so that is about 14%, close to sudocrem's 15.25%

Pet-jelly is 1.50 for 375g in dealz. To make a zinc oxide & pet-jelly cream of 15.25% you need 1 of the 500g zinc containers, and 2778g of pet-jelly, so that is 7.4 pots of pet-jelly.

8 pots is 12euro, the zinc is 15, so 27euro to make 3279g of cream (and 0.6 pot of pet-jelly left over). Sudocrem is 10.59 for 400g in tesco so is quite a bit more, but sudocrem is expensive compared to other zinc creams (has other actives so not directly comparable). Of course you do not have to make kilos at once, and I expect the powder is more stable than a cream. It would allow you to make your own strengths & combinations which I like to experiment with. 40% zinc oxide seems to be the strongest readily available one. There was a cheap tesco nappy cream which is not on the shelf in my local -I have some but it does not declare the zinc-oxide %, but it appeared stronger than the boots one, yet thinner than sudocrem

Tesco nappy cream is/was 1.29 for 150g
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258615198

With food ingredients they have to be in order of greatest first, but I am not sure this applies to the likes of this. On uk sites it seems it is not the case.
e.g. http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/zinc_and_castor_oil_ointment_500g.html

ngredients:
Zinc Oxide 7.5% w/w, virgin castor oil 50.0% w/w, Arachis Oil (Peanut Oil), Cetostearyl Alcohol, White Beeswax (E901).

seems it might be the "most active" first, and I doubt that is set in stone as it would be hard to determine. More like "most relevant"

The same guy has 1kg powder for just a little more, so as parcelmotel prices would remain the same it might be the better investment
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zinc-Oxide-99-9-Pharmaceutical-Grade-BP-EP-USP-1kg-Highest-Purity-Available-/251291559036?hash=item3a8224e47c:g:VGgAAOSwewJTmwvM

They say it should be"non-nanoparticles" which that one is

An post have "addresspal" which is 3.75 and more nationwide, there is also parcelwizard and parcelconnect.

LegacyUser

I'm the same. Was using coal tar and urea cream it's in a tub. Ithe totally removed my spots. Cleared it . But I can't get it in clonmel anymore. I was told it was discontinued. Can anyone help to get it.

shootermacg

rubadub wrote: »

I found castor oil worked well for moisturizing, my chemist had it behind the counter in a large bottle, it was quite different from other oils I tried, it seemed to cause large flakes to form and come off easily. But castor oil is messy as is very liquidy, it's thicker than cooking oil but still very runny. I have mixed it 1/3 castor, 2/3 petroleum jelly (dealz version of vaseline is cheap, but a bit more runny than vaseline) and it applies better and seems more effective than the pet-jelly on its own. I put them in a little pot and whip it up together with a butter knife, it can separate a little after a few days so just stir again.

Boots do a nappy rash cream which is zinc oxide based and has castor oil. Zinc oxide is what gives sudocrem its white colour, sudocrem has 15.25% zinc oxide. Many nappy rash creams have it but in varying amounts. Sudocrem has loads of other ingredients, but I am not sure I really want/need them, and sudocrem is pretty expensive.

Others in this thread found the boots one very good, its more like vaseline than sudocrem -which is more like toothpaste.

Zinc oxide coincidentally is used as a sun block

The narrowband UVB is 311nm. This means it is ideal for masking off areas of good skin if doing UVB therapy. I use it to mask off good areas, but also afterwards rub that excess cream back into the patch just treated, since it is good for healing the skin you just treated.

I have found zinc oxide powder on ebay, pharmaceutical grade

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zinc-Oxide-99-9-Pharmaceutical-Grade-BP-EP-USP-500g-Highest-Purity-Available-/261250225534?hash=item3cd3ba157e:g:FzEAAOSw8lBTmxYp

500g is £9.49, free delivery to UK, so parcelmotel etc add about 4euro. So its about 15euro with parcel motel fees and currency. If you ask your chemist they might be able to get powder in for you, but that does seem cheap.

I can see a recipe here

https://www.bendsoap.com/blogs/sudsy-scoop/diy-natural-sunscreen-and-after-sun-lotion

So that is 1oz zinc oxide to 6oz of other stuff, so that is about 14%, close to sudocrem's 15.25%

Pet-jelly is 1.50 for 375g in dealz. To make a zinc oxide & pet-jelly cream of 15.25% you need 1 of the 500g zinc containers, and 2778g of pet-jelly, so that is 7.4 pots of pet-jelly.

8 pots is 12euro, the zinc is 15, so 27euro to make 3279g of cream (and 0.6 pot of pet-jelly left over). Sudocrem is 10.59 for 400g in tesco so is quite a bit more, but sudocrem is expensive compared to other zinc creams (has other actives so not directly comparable). Of course you do not have to make kilos at once, and I expect the powder is more stable than a cream. It would allow you to make your own strengths & combinations which I like to experiment with. 40% zinc oxide seems to be the strongest readily available one. There was a cheap tesco nappy cream which is not on the shelf in my local -I have some but it does not declare the zinc-oxide %, but it appeared stronger than the boots one, yet thinner than sudocrem

Tesco nappy cream is/was 1.29 for 150g
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258615198

With food ingredients they have to be in order of greatest first, but I am not sure this applies to the likes of this. On uk sites it seems it is not the case.
e.g. http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/zinc_and_castor_oil_ointment_500g.html

seems it might be the "most active" first, and I doubt that is set in stone as it would be hard to determine. More like "most relevant"

The same guy has 1kg powder for just a little more, so as parcelmotel prices would remain the same it might be the better investment
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zinc-Oxide-99-9-Pharmaceutical-Grade-BP-EP-USP-1kg-Highest-Purity-Available-/251291559036?hash=item3a8224e47c:g:VGgAAOSwewJTmwvM

They say it should be"non-nanoparticles" which that one is

An post have "addresspal" which is 3.75 and more nationwide, there is also parcelwizard and parcelconnect.

Always enjoy your posts Rub, you seem like a very clever individual.

Call Me Jimmy

Pauline lucey wrote: »

I'm the same. Was using coal tar and urea cream it's in a tub. Ithe totally removed my spots. Cleared it . But I can't get it in clonmel anymore. I was told it was discontinued. Can anyone help to get it.

I'm not sure what type of coal tar you're talking about specifically but my doctor just prescribed a bath additive coal tar for me the other day and I got it in my local chemist. Are you saying they don't have any in stock even with prescription?

rubadub

Pauline lucey wrote: »

I'm the same. Was using coal tar and urea cream it's in a tub. Ithe totally removed my spots. Cleared it . But I can't get it in clonmel anymore. I was told it was discontinued. Can anyone help to get it.

Do you know the brand it was? I see there was one coal tar & urea cream by ovelle which people say is/was discontinued.

There was a worldwide shortage of coal tar so it was very hard to get any for a while, some were selling for big money exploiting people. It appears to be coming back though so the discontinued creams may reappear, or there might be alternatives with the same or very similar ratios of ingredients.

I think the urea makes it absorb into the skin better, while the coal tar is the real active ingredient. So another coal tar cream might work, but they vary a lot in %.

I read dithranol & urea worked well together so got a urea cream separately and mixed the 2 in the ratio recommended. Urea creams can be got in heel moisturising creams -i.e. its a very powerful moisturiser for really dry skin. The mixture seemed unstable though, the mixed cream would go dark after a few days, while dithranol mixed with other moisturisers would not.

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

I'm not sure what type of coal tar you're talking about specifically but my doctor just prescribed a bath additive coal tar for me the other day and I got it in my local chemist.

This sounds like what I got, polytar emollient. I did not like the fact the "shampoo" had unnecessary additives, like foaming agents. And the emollient had a higher concentration of coal tar in it too. I cannot find anywhere selling it online, and the shampoo appears to only be sold in small 150ml bottles.

Call Me Jimmy

rubadub wrote: »

Do you know the brand it was? I see there was one coal tar & urea cream by ovelle which people say is/was discontinued.

There was a worldwide shortage of coal tar so it was very hard to get any for a while, some were selling for big money exploiting people. It appears to be coming back though so the discontinued creams may reappear, or there might be alternatives with the same or very similar ratios of ingredients.

I think the urea makes it absorb into the skin better, while the coal tar is the real active ingredient. So another coal tar cream might work, but they vary a lot in %.

I read dithranol & urea worked well together so got a urea cream separately and mixed the 2 in the ratio recommended. Urea creams can be got in heel moisturising creams -i.e. its a very powerful moisturiser for really dry skin. The mixture seemed unstable though, the mixed cream would go dark after a few days, while dithranol mixed with other moisturisers would not.

This sounds like what I got, polytar emollient. I did not like the fact the "shampoo" had unnecessary additives, like foaming agents. And the emollient had a higher concentration of coal tar in it too. I cannot find anywhere selling it online, and the shampoo appears to only be sold in small 150ml bottles.

What do you think of eucirins urea moisturisers? My dad swears by them I'm yet to be convinced.

rubadub

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

What do you think of eucirins urea moisturisers? My dad swears by them I'm yet to be convinced.

I haven't used them. I have only used 2, this scholl one for heels

http://www.scholl.co.uk/foot-care-products/cracked-heels/scholl-cracked-heel-repair-cream-active-repair-k/

and this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000YESZIQ/ref=pe_385721_127872891_TE_item

on amazon you get free delivery if over ?25, I was buying something for around ?20 so just added it on, i.e. it might not be the best price. It was high at 25% urea, most are less.

Urea cream smells a bit so is far from ideal. I would like to get a pure urea cream without all the millions of other additives.

One strong non smelly and reasonable value cream is lidl SOS hand cream.
454648.jpg?v=1

rubadub

I see philips are offering a 90 day money back gaurantee on their blue LED technology.

http://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/PSK0202_10/bluecontrol/reviewandawards

They are not filtering reviews either, it did not work for some.

I would like an even smaller version to pinpoint small spots. At the moment I would mask them off which is a pain. Instead of masking off the spots I copped on I could mask off the light itself.

This is the bulb in the typical small 9W units.

xdr-honle-dermalight80-bulb-only-philips-pl-s-9w-01-2p-uv-b--1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.ygY6KgmdXn.jpg

I am going to make a new light fitting so the bulb will fit into a tube. So it will look like a large torch with light only coming out the end. So I could hold the end of the "torch" directly over a spot, the bulb would be inside the tube an inch or so meaning it can be pressed directly on the skin. The end of the tube could have different caps, with smaller holes for really small spots.

LED torches are very common these days, it would not surprise me if there is one using the same LEDs as in the philips.

shootermacg

I have the one in the picture, but the phillips is rechargable and doesn't need to be plugged in when being used. That makes it a great option for me. I'll look to pick one up when I can afford to.

rubadub

shootermacg wrote: »

I have the one in the picture, but the phillips is rechargable and doesn't need to be plugged in when being used. That makes it a great option for me. I'll look to pick one up when I can afford to.

the treatments are 30min long though, and it takes a good while to charge.

Philips have patents up online which reveal the brand and power of LEDs they use in some things.

https://www.google.ie/patents/EP2288410A1?cl=en&dq=philips+blue+control&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-nqftqMTTAhXFLsAKHalKC2EQ6AEIIjAA

The high power blue light sources may e.g. be Luxeon? LEDs. The LEDs may have an optical power in the range of 500-600 mW and an electric power in the range of 1.8-2.2 Watt.

rubadub

I was reading the manuals on the philips. There are 2 models, the older one can probably be got a bit cheaper.

old model
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/p/psk0101_10/psk0101_10_dfu_aen.pdf

Philips BlueControl is a non-serviceable device that has an expected life time of at least 3 years in normal intended operation.

3.7V /rated capacity 5.77 Whr Lithium-ion battery

The integrated batteries of the Philips BlueControl contain substances
that may pollute the environment. The batteries cannot be removed.

new model
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/p/psk0202_10/psk0202_10_dfu_eng.pdf

3.7V /rated capacity 6.1 Whr Lithium-ion battery

Removing the rechargeable battery
This procedure is irreversible. You cannot use the
device anymore after this procedure.
Note: We strongly advise you to take your product to
an official collection point or a Philips service centre to
have a professional remove the battery

So it doesn't even sound like philips will change the battery when it runs out. I am not sure if the device will still run when plugged into the charger, you could possibly get an extra long cable if it could. But its pretty expensive to be just dumping when the battery goes. I imagine I would be able to change it, but I know a bit of electronics and have changed batteries in other electronics which are not meant to be user serviceable.

A new battery of that power would be around ?15-20, it is probably 3-6 cells, unless they have their own custom made one, which would be unusual for stuff like this that is not sold in huge volumes like phones. A battery for vapourisers might do the job.

The old model said "at least 3 years", they have a twitter page, presumably talking about the new one

https://twitter.com/PhilipsBlueLED

Philips #BlueControl treatment is only 20p per day! Based on the 5 year lifetime of the device

So does sound like they have no plans to do battery replacements services, and I thought Apple were bad!

Also they give no indication of usage in that expected 5 years. I expect they mean daily, but I wonder how much it is used, i.e. how many charges in that 5 years.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Psoriasis/comments/4yvf47/experience_with_philips_blue_control_20/

I got it five weeks ago (16th July) and have been using it to treat seven separate areas (elbows, lower arms, right shin front, side and back) daily ever since. I started on the toughest, most resilient areas I had.
The first point to note, this takes up 3.5 hours daily, and the device will only do four areas on one battery charge (every 30 mins of use requires 45 mins of charging), so I divide my use into two separate sessions.
The big question is of course: does it work? For me at least, yes, but slowly. It was during the third week that I started to see any effect: the plaques on the treated areas were much,much thinner and the redness had come down a few points. Now after five weeks, the treated areas are more of a light pink, and scaling has almost stopped

people in the reddit link discuss differences between the 2.

I would sooner spend the money on a larger UVB one, I could get a 72W (2x36W) philips bulb unit for less money than it.

rubadub

Have this 40% urea cream on the way from amazon.co.uk. It is pricey but it is potent stuff with expensive ingredients so you could not say they are chancers selling it.

Ingredients:
Urea, TEA (Triethanolamine), Tea Tree Oil, Aloe, Salicylic Acid, Mineral Oil, Preserved Water (Methylparaben, Propylparaben)

Salicylic acid is a peeling agent that exfoliates the outer dead skin cells and causes it to shed. It cuts through dirt, impurities and oil beneath the skin's surface. Urea is a skin softening agent that helps to moisturize the skin, providing a more radiant & youthful looking appearance. Green Tea and Aloe Vera extracts provide antioxidant, anti-Inflammatory and anti-bacterial benefits as well as enhanced sun protection.

UREA 40 PLUS SALICYLIC ACID 2% CREAM: The combination of salicylic acid and urea topical (for the skin) is a professionally formulated exfoliating cream designed to help soften and remove rough, scaly skin caused by warts, calluses, keratosis or psoriasis. It is a concentrated and highly effective anti-fungal foot cream that re-hydrates the skin to a healthy appearance; a softer, smoother and more ravishing skin surface. The fast absorbing cream provides grease-less, non-staining, non-irritating, soothing and moisturizing relief from redness, itching and scaling.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/40-Dermatologist-Recommended-Exfoliating-Moisturizer/dp/B01E7VQOSY
https://www.amazon.com/40-Dermatologist-Recommended-Exfoliating-Moisturizer/dp/B01E7VQOSY?th=1

I saw cheaper generic UVB bulbs on sale. I said before there was a study done (possibly by philips who have a vested interest) which showed they outputted a wider range of wavelengths, i.e. a bad thing. But the ones I see on sale are only rated to 300hours, while philips are 1000hours, these are the claims anyway. So I would stick with philips, the savings were not too much to warrant the chance.

There is also interestingly a philips large bulb available in 1000 & 2000hr amounts, maybe intended for hospitals with higher use.

ibarelycare

That cream looks interesting rubadub. I wonder would it be safe to use on the face? I'd never had bad psoriasis on my face, but over the past few months it's creeped to my forehead and around my temples

For the most part it's manageable and I can cover it up with makeup. I'm gently exfoliating every day and am using a La Roche Posey intensive moisturiser which I'm finding good as a moisturiser, but not too sure if it's having much of an effect on the psoriasis (and it's pricey!).

I think I'm going to see about doing a few sunbeds to try and help, but I might give that cream a go as well.

rubadub

ibarelycare wrote: »

That cream looks interesting rubadub. I wonder would it be safe to use on the face?

I was reading about salicylic acid and think it could cause temporary skin marking. I would certainly not use it undiluted on my face straight off. I am not sure how beneficial it would be, as I would not get thick skin on the face. I have used urea creams on heavy scales and it worked very well, they were just falling off cleanly.

La Roche Posey do urea creams too, very expensive brand as you say.

I like the fact this has both the salicylic acid and tea tree oil. Often in creams there is stuff I do not want in them.

In some comments people were saying this was far cheaper than 50% urea creams they had been using. There is the same brand with no salicylic acid and some said the salicylic acid was definitely having an effect after using both.

I just dilute my creams if using them on the face. I have a mini weighing scale to do it accurately, or sometimes just eye ball it. So you could mix the 40% with vaseline to get it down to 4% and if it proves OK go stronger. Most of these creams just use vaseline or mineral oil to dilute.

I try and get as much sun on my face as I can, no suncream, can pop outside at lunch when the sun is stronger.

OUTDOORLASS

Hi, I saw a section on Ireland AM this morning. Lady that had Psoriasis for years, then went on the new drugs.
She did.nt mention which. She has.nt looked back. Said she had tried every lotion and potion and every diet, to no
success. Might be worth going back on the podcast on their website. Best Rgds,

rubadub

OUTDOORLASS wrote: »

Hi, I saw a section on Ireland AM this morning.

on the player here https://www.tv3.ie/3player/show/809/125923/0/Ireland-AM

Brian Kirby is on it too.

Got my 40% urea cream, only used it a few times, there is no real sting off it to tell you its working, doesn't smell too bad. Too soon to give a recommendation. It does not look like a cream from a big manufacturer, printout papery label on a tub, I was wondering it it really was 40% as I was expecting it to sting & stink. Dodgy looking web address on the tub.

http://scientificsolutionz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/scientificsolutionz/

wonga77

Just watched that video from tv3. A bit vague on details but interesting nonetheless, I wonder which treatment is working for her?
Also interesting to hear that she tried all the diets with no success. Thats also my experience but some people don't want to hear it.
Has anyone here any recent experience with any specialists in the south west?

huskerdu

Methotrexate is one of the drugs which is very good for psoriasis but there are side affects so I think its only prescribed for really bad cases.

I've been on methothrexate for years for psoratic arthritis. My psoriasis completely cleared up while on it. My psoriasis was never bad enough to warrant methotrexate but I was put on it for the arthritis.

I had to go off methotrexate a few months ago because I was having surgery for something unrelated.

Guess what - the psoriasis is back. My scalp is bad and I have patches on my elbows and knees

I tried the Philips Kingsley shampoo recommended in this thread and Its very good.

Dovonex is now available without a prescription so I gave that a go and its working. I'm hoping this good weather will help.

rubadub

huskerdu wrote: »

Dovonex is now available without a prescription so I gave that a go and its working. I'm hoping this good weather will help.

surprised I did not hear this before, must give it a go. For those unaware its a synthetic vitamin D cream, not a steroid cream.

How much did you get it for? & what size?

EDIT: says €25 here

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/what-its-like-to-live-with-psoriasis-399632.html

Dovonex Psoriasis Ointment, which has been available on prescription only for the past 24 years, works by slowing down the production of skin cells, which in turn helps to flatten and clear psoriasis plaques.

A once-a-day treatment, it?s popular with psoriasis patients because it doesn?t contain steroids, which means that long-term, it won?t damage the skin.

It will now be both easier and cheaper to buy (about ?25 compared to ?35 on prescription) because patients will no longer require a prescription for it.

Medical card holders will not be affected by the change, as Dovonex will still be available on prescription and therefore covered by the card.

and 25 for 60g here https://www.fortunespharmacy.ie/product/dovonex-psoriasis-ointment-60g/?_wpnonce=37ded0ee77

huskerdu

It was about €25 in McCabes in Dundrum.

You might have to ask. Empty boxes were on the shelf in McCabes with a sticker saying that you have to ask the pharmacist. The pharmacist has to check that you have been diagnosed with psoriasis before selling it to. No real proof was asked, just a general conversation and she was convincd that I had used it before.