daughter with sevier case of psoriasis

[skinrashmother]

Hi. Im a mother of a 13 yr old daughter who has been suffering from psoriasis for a few yrs now. I took her to the doctors and he gave her lotions shampoos and that didnt work, finally we were able to get her to a dermatologist and they started her on the light treatments, that seemed to help but after a few months of no treatments it came back, In the summer I had her go in the pool and for some reason that helped. It went away but now it's so bad. she is complaining her skin burns and her sculp is itchy all the time. I got a shampoo ( Clobex ) It helps with the itching but it wont clear it. I was wondering is my daughter to young for the biologic shots? she is miserable, up most of the night itching and scratching and when she wakes up in the morning her sculp red and irritated. It starting on her elbow's,knees, and her upper thighs and I also notice its on her back too. Im at my end wits and so is she. Please I could use some advice.
Thank you

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

Psoriasis is generally a disease of the skin and leads to development of patches of well defined scaly, flaky areas on the skin. Areas involved usually are knees, elbows, shin and extensor portions of the body.

It has a genetic and immune component related. It is not contagious.

Lesions in psoriasis are recurrent in quite a few cases and therefore require long term medication.

As a first step, medicated ointments or creams like corticosteroids, cvutamin D analogues, anthralin, etc, called topical treatments, are applied to the skin.

If topical treatment fails to achieve the desired goal then the next step is to expose the skin to ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation or PUVA therapy (PSORALEN +UV-A). This is called phototherapy.

The third step involves the use of medications which are taken by pills or injection including methotrexate, cyclosporine and retinoids.. This approach is called systemic treatment.

Over time, psoriasis can become resistant to a specific therapy. Treatments may be periodically changed to prevent resistance developing.

More information on Psoriasis may be found at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis

and

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/psoriasis/article_em.htm

Let us know if you need any further information.

Regards