Hi,
Thanks for the query.

You have provided me with good information.

Your brother is suffering from Psoriasis from past 5 years and he has taken different forms of treatment.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Psoriasis gets better and worse spontaneously and can have periodic remissions (clear skin).
What your doctor has said is right, Psoriasis is controllable with medication but not curable.

Doctors choose treatments based on the type and severity of psoriasis and the areas of skin affected, the traditional approach is to start with the mildest treatments — topical creams, lotions, sprays and ultraviolet light therapy (phototherapy) — and then progress to stronger ones only if necessary.

If your brother has started with these and not effective, he can try a local injection of steroids directly into a tough or resistant isolated psoriasis plaque.

Daily, short, controlled exposures to natural sunlight may help or clear psoriasis in some patients.

PUVA( psoralen combined with ultraviolet A ) is a special treatment using a photosensitizing drug and timed artificial-light exposure composed of wave lengths of ultraviolet light in the UVA spectrum. These treatments are usually given in a physician's office two to three times per week. Several weeks of PUVA is usually required before seeing significant results.

For moderate to severe disease that involves much larger areas of the body (like 20% or more of the total skin surface), topical products may not be effective or practical to apply. These cases may require ultra-violet light treatments or systemic (total body treatments such as pills or injections) medications.

You can consult your dermtologist and see if it helps him.

Hope I have answered your query. Please accept my answer if you have no further queries.

Regards.

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Hi,
Thanks for the follow up.

Steroids are not XXXXXXX but long-term use or overuse of strong corticosteroids can cause thinning of the skin and resistance to the treatment's benefits. To minimize side effects and to increase effectiveness, topical corticosteroids are generally used on active outbreaks until they're under control.

If you feel Homeopathy has not effectively reduced his outbreaks you can shift to other modalities of treatment like Phototherapy.

If he is using the creams and lotions, it is good and he can use it along with Phototherapy. Phototherapy can be used effectively for people who have a large percentage of the skin surface affected by psoriasis. Since more than 70% of his body is covered this might be best treatment for him.

Treatment consists of short-term exposure to special lights which emit only the type of ultraviolet radiation proven to help with psoriasis.
The most common type of phototherapy is UVB (Ultraviolet B) exposure. The patient enters a small booth, where he or she will stand for the duration of the treatment. For the first few sessions, exposure will be limited to 5 minutes or less, but if the patient responds well to phototherapy, session length may be extended to as much as 30 minutes.

Doctors can also use narrow-band UVB light, which reduces the wavelengths to only those that have the most effect. UVB radiation therapy can be combined with over-the-counter topical treatments, including those with coal tar or salicylic acid, to improve effectiveness.

Unfortunately, for some people who are just beginning UVB phototherapy, your psoriasis may get worse before it gets better. Skin irritation from the ultraviolet exposure may cause itching or redness for a short time, but it will usually subside.

Another type of phototherapy is called Psoraline plus Ultraviolet A or PUVA. This type of treatment is used less frequently. Doctors typically will not recommend PUVA therapy unless your psoriasis is very severe.

Hope, I have answered your query. Please accept my answer if you have no further queries.

Regards.

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