Treatment for Scalp Psoriasis

By Stacy Merry Scott

Unfortunately, the cause of psoriasis is not known and this in itself makes it difficult to treat. It most often is evident on the trunk of the body and the scalp as well. It's recognized by various sizes of red patches that are covered with a layer of dry silver colored scales.
At first you may be thinking that it's just dandruff that you are suffering from. You will be able to tell the difference because dandruff affects the entire scalp whereas scalp psoriasis only affects areas in patches. It used to be thought that this condition once it affected the scalp would cause hair loss, but this is not the case.
The first step to getting the proper treatment is recognizing you have scalp psoriasis and then getting it properly diagnosed. From here, there are several treatment options. In some cases, it has been said that the UV rays from the sun or sun beds may be beneficial. This is something that has to be approached with extreme caution. Overdoing it can actually make the condition much worse.
Unfortunately, there is not just one treatment that can be totally relied on for the cure of scalp psoriasis. There are many types of treatments that seem to work well in some and not in others.
Most often some type of topical treatment will be given. These are creams or lotions that are applied and they may be corticosteroids, or tar creams just to name a few. One of the issues with psoriasis is that the lesions are thick and must be reduced in order for the treatments to be effective they must be thinned down. Ideally, the topical treatment should be a lotion, liquid or a gel. Creams and ointment-based products are far too difficult to apply to the scalp as it gets entangled with the hair.
Quite often, these types of treatments will start to work within a two-week period. The other topical treatments vary. For example, treatments that are a derivative of vitamin D usually take up to two months to start working. They in many cases though are safer to use than the steroids and the results are more long term. The downside is that it can be irritating to the skin.
The retinoid treatments, which are based on vitamin A, are also quite successful, but can be an irritant as well. These treatments should not be used by pregnant women.
On occasion oral treatments will be used but not too often. This is more readily used when the psoriasis is just not responding to any of the topical treatments. They may also be used if the itch is out of control. When this is the case, there is a chance of infection from scratching, so attempts have to be made to get it into control.
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