Ultraviolet (UV) Rays and Sun Light as Psoriasis Natural Treatment

One natural treatment to reduce the inflamed areas of the skin is by sunlight, which we covered in an earlier section. Ultraviolet (UV) light is a type of light whose wavelength is too short for the human eye to see.  Exposing activated T cells to UV rays, whether in sunlight or in artificial light, causes the T cells in the skin to die. This reduces the rate of reproduction of skin cells, and reduces scaling and inflammation. Brief, daily exposure to small amounts of sunlight may improve the symptoms of psoriasis for many patients.  Moderation is very important in any regimen that uses sunlight, since intense sun exposure can worsen symptoms and can also cause other skin damage. Before beginning a sunlight regimen, the physician should discuss the safest way to use natural sunlight for psoriasis treatment. It is also possible to use phototherapy with artificial light sources, whether in a doctor’s office or at home.  There are two major types of UV light, UVB and UVA.  Short and closely monitored doses of UVB light from an artificial light source may improve mild to moderate psoriasis symptoms. UVB phototherapy, which is also known as broadband UVB, can be used to treat single patches, widespread psoriasis and psoriasis that does not respond to topical application of medicines.   There is also a more recent type of UVB phototherapy, called narrowband UVB therapy, which may be a better treatment option for most psoriasis patients than broadband UVB. The initial treatments are usually given three times a week, and once improvement occurs, the frequency of the treatment is normally reduced to once weekly.  However, the newer narrowband treatment does cause very severe and long lasting burns if not monitored closely, and so for these reasons is usually restricted to being given at the physician’s office. There is also a place for UVA in treatment of psoriasis.  This is in combination with the drug psoralen, and this type of treatment is known as photochemotherapy.  The psoralen sensitizes the skin so that it is more reactive to the UVA spectrum.   One main advantage to this is that of the two types of UV light, UVA penetrates farther into the skin than the wavelengths of UVB light.  This is a more aggressive treatment and is one of the most dependable to improve the condition and appearance of outbreaks.  It is one of the most relied upon treatments for patients with severe psoriasis.  The treatments are usually given two to three times a week for a predetermined number of weeks.   As effective as this treatment is, it does have a number of side effects.  Like other forms of chemotherapy, it can create nausea and headache, and increased burning and itching of the skin.  It also has long term side effects, which is an increased risk of skin cancer, including one of the deadliest of all cancers, melanoma. A different type of phototherapy is use of a laser, the excimer laser. This type of treatment is used for mild to moderate psoriasis, and is aimed only at the inflamed patches of skin. A specified intensity of UVB light is aimed at the psoriasis plaques to control scaling and inflammation. Healthy skin surrounding the patches is not touched and so remains undamaged.  This type of laser therapy requires fewer sessions than does traditional phototherapy because the laser generates a more powerful form of UVB light. There are few side effects with this therapy, and they can include redness and blistering. One of the choices of light therapy may be quite effective for some patients.  Other patients that do not respond to light therapy given by itself may find improvement when this treatment is combined with other treatments, such as a choice of topical cream.  Again, physicians treating psoriasis typically will try minimal treatment to see if there is improvement, and revise treatment if significant improvement does not result. This is a major reason why any patient that suffers from psoriasis and has recurrent flare-ups should make sure that any physician treating them has access to their health records.  The records will contain which treatment, or combination of treatments, has worked well in the past for this patient.  Equally important is to know which treatments have done little to change the areas of inflammation, since psoriasis is such an individual and unpredictable disease. There are several standard combination therapies prescribed by physicians that treat psoriasis.  One is the Goeckerman treatment, which is a use of coal tar applied topically in addition to the UVB phototherapy treatment.  The coal tar makes the skin respond better to the UVB light during the session.  A second combination therapy is known as the Ingram method, which uses a coal tar bath, a session with UVB light, and then applying a paste of a combination of anthralin and salicylic acid to the inflamed areas.  This paste is left on overnight, again with wrapping to keep it on the areas and off of the bedding.