Laser treatment for psoriasis

[Puneet]

I have mild psoriasis on my scalp and hairline. I used ointments and creams and it goes away but when i stop using it again come back so i i'm looking for Laster treatment alternative. I was curious if anyone here has done. Will it be the same case as ointments ( coming back after stop using Laser) or it gets back to normal and will atleast won't come for few years or ever. Any experience people here could help me.



Thanks
Puneet

[Dr.Deepak]

The most rapid and single agent regimen is aggressive UVB phototherapy for clearing psoriasis. There are different protocal for using either three times a week or five times or daily. Atleast 18 treatments might require to see the clearance. This involves application of lubricants to psoriatic plaques before therapy.

Another effective regimen would be Photochemotherapy for widespread severe psoriasis. Here a psoralen,a photoactive drug is taken orally followed by exposure to long-wave UVL after 2 hrs. Long term side effects might include squamous cell carcinoma.

Psoralen plus PUVA is one of the most effective therapy. Clearance of lesion might occur after successful treatment for about 15-20 exposure over 5-8 weeks. But it might again re-occur after several months so countinuous therapy atleast once a month or twice exposure is required to get the complete benefit from it.

Combined therapy with PUVA-UVB, Retinoid-PUVA,methotrexate-PUVA might be another effective therapy for clearing widespread psoriasis. You should remember that longterm studies of safety and efficacy of these therapy is still in progress. Please consult your dermatologist to discuss about this issue.