Question:

it started about a year ago and i have it on my elbows and scalp. i have been trying different lotions that my MD wrote scripts for. they don't work. i have searched these posts, but was wondering if someone can give a few simple natural remedies and diet tips for a newcomer. i would like to know what foods and drinks to cut back on and what sort of natural products i can pick up in the health food store, to help bring the P down.

Answer:

You can google old posts for tons of stuff, but if you like natural, the ultraviolet component of sunlight is pretty natural, and salt-water baths are pretty natural. These are the two components of an ancient treatment for psoriasis, a trip to the Dead Sea. Foods with omega-6 fatty acids, generally things like red meat and salad dressings, tend to make inflammation worse. Foods with omega-3 fatty acides, mainly cold-water fish, often reduce inflammation. Both effects are generally modest. Keeping a balance between omega-6 and omega-3 may be more important than consuming more or less. Flax seed oil is a balanced source of both. I have found evening primrose oil to help when the psoriasis gets in your nails, and to help reduce problems with scratch-and-bleed. Primrose oil contains gamma-linolenic acid, which is only available in a very few other food sources. Normally the body makes its own, but in psoriasis, it sometimes doesn't, or so it seems. None of these suggestions work for everyone. Sunlight aggravates symptoms for some, bathing can dry the skin (so use lots of moisterizers afterwards!), reactions to diet vary from none at all to the reverse of what you want. There are a zillion things on the net and in herbal books and such to try, but nothing that seems to work reliably for more than a tiny fraction (and perhaps zero!) of those who try them. Still, it can help to pass the time, if you like, and most are mostly harmless.

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