Guttate Psoriasis Case Study

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Guttate Psoriasis Treatment: Antibiotics, Phototherapy or Steroids?

Guttate psoriasis is a condition of the skin that is characterized by many scaly, small plaques which tend to affect major parts of the body. Gutta is a Latin word for teardrop and this term makes sense as guttate psoriasis looks just like red, scaly teardrops which fall off from the body. The lesions are often concentrated around the trunk, thighs and the upper arms. The face, ears and scalp are also often affected but the lesions are not as severe and they can quickly disappear. Since this skin condition is too ruthless to the skin, it is important to find guttate psoriasis treatment that is feasible for the patient to maintain.
Guttate psoriasis may not be totally healed but
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This kind of treatment can be administered on its own or it can be used with tar products such as the Goeckerman treatment. It can also be used with anthralin which is applied to the skin (also known as the Ingram regimen).
Another option for UVB therapy is the use of narrow-band ultraviolet B light. This is an effective way of exposing the patient only to the wavelengths that are needful in treating psoriasis. Broadband ultraviolet B makes use of a wider range of wavelengths.
Laser treatment or excimer laser also uses the UVB light. This laser is used to target psoriasis that is difficult to treat and have been affecting the knees and elbows.
The other kind of phototherapy is the UVA therapy. This kind of light penetrates deeply to the skin as compared to the UVB light. It requires 20 minutes of light exposure per session. When combined with psoralen drugs, this is already referred to as PUVA. In PUVA, the patient just has to be exposed to the light for only 2 minutes.
Phototherapy, whether with UVA or UVB can be used on their own or with the aid of medicines. UVB is often used to treat the more severe cases of