Items Tagged With Psoriasis Medications

Medications applied to the skin or taken by mouth are usually used to treat psoriasis. For moderate or severe cases, topical and oral medications may be combined with exposure to sunlight or ultraviolet (UV) light. In rare cases, medications may be injected into a psoriasis sore or patch.

Softening and removing psoriasis crusts and scale can help creams and other skin products be absorbed into the skin. Psoriasis crusts can be removed by gently rubbing cream into the crusts to soften them and then carefully peeling the crusted patches off. However, this should be done with great care so that the skin is not irritated.

Scalp and nail psoriasis can be difficult to treat. Both conditions are more likely to improve with oral medication. Treatment for the scalp often includes tar shampoos, corticosteroid solutions, or zinc and selenium sulfide shampoos.

If you are taking topical or oral medications for psoriasis, you will need regular follow-up visits with your doctor to check for possible side effects or skin cancer. You may take one medication for a while, then switch to another to reduce the chance that a serious side effect will occur.

Occlusion

The occlusion treatment method uses moisturizers or medicated creams or gels applied to the skin. After the products are applied, the skin is then wrapped with tape, material, or plastic. Occlusion keeps the area moist and can increase the effectiveness of medicated creams. Steroid cream may be used with the occlusion treatment method for small areas, but not for more than a few days.⁵ Occlusion of large areas may cause side effects such as thinning of the skin.

Medication Choices

Topical medications to treat psoriasis include:

• Corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are the most common treatment for psoriasis.¹⁰
• Calcipotriene, which contains vitamin D₃.
• Retinoids, including tazarotene and acitretin.
• Anthralin and tars. The use of anthralin and tars has decreased recently, replaced by other medications such as calcipotriene and tazarotene.⁵
• Zinc pyrithione. Zinc pyrithione (for example, Derma-Cap) is a new product available without a prescription that comes in spray, soap, or solution form. It is used to treat small patches of psoriasis and symptoms, including itching, redness, flaking, and scaling of the skin. It is also used to treat psoriasis of the scalp. For some people, it appears to eliminate scales and sores caused by psoriasis. Very few studies of zinc pyrithione have been completed.

Oral medications to treat psoriasis include:

• Retinoids.
• Cyclosporine.
• Methotrexate.

Newer medicines, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of psoriasis, are available. Biologics, which must be injected, modify the immune system response that produces the symptoms of psoriasis. Early clinical trials of biologic therapies for moderate to severe psoriasis have produced promising results, but the drugs are expensive and long-term effects are not known.^{11, 12}

• Alefacept (Amevive), efalizumab (Raptiva), and etanercept (Enbrel) have been approved by the FDA for treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis.
• Infliximab (Remicade), which is used to treat other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, is beginning to be used for psoriasis with good results.¹¹
• Etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab (Humira) have been approved to treat psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriasis  Psoriasis Medications