Psoriasis often leads to patches of thick, red inflamed skin covered with silvery scales. It can occur anywhere on the body but is more common on the elbows, knees, scalp and palms. Sometimes it can affect the joints and cause psoriatic arthritis. It is the itch that is the most debilitation symptom. Psoriasis can nearly affect 3% of the population.
About one third of the people with psoriasis has a family genetic connection and is regarded as an auto immune disease which in this case involves over active T –cells. The symptoms can come and go and be aggravated by stress, weather, certain foods and medications. Western medical treatment commonly involves external application of corticosteroids which when used long term can cause thinning of the skin. Corticosteroids can relieve some of the symptoms but do not eliminate the condition. For internal medication, the drug Methotrexate is prescribed to suppress the immune system but it causes liver disease, anemia and birth defects if the patient is pregnant.
For autoimmune conditions like psoriasis, the concept of imbalances makes sense. The immune system is overactive and the body attacks itself. The diagnosis of the specific imbalance is based upon the appearance of the psoriasis and other symptoms, such as itch, pain, or irritation. The most common imbalances are blood heat, dryness, and blood stagnation. Damp heat can also be a factor, particularly in pustular psoriasis. Chinese medicine doctors have long said that removing these imbalances is like hitting the reset switch. In this case, resetting the immune system. One of the phenomenal aspects of Chinese herbal therapy is that it can lead to long term reduction in psoriasis. We describe this as correcting the imbalances in the body rather than masking the psoriasis symptoms.
Acupuncture helps by stimulating certain points of the brain that reduce sensitivity to pain and stress. This can help hugely in dealing with the emotional symptoms to psoriasis but also help with the pain caused by the inflammation. By promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors and increasing local microcirculation acupuncture can help to reduce inflammation to the skin and aids the dispersal of swelling. Acupuncture can also help enhance the natural killer cell activities and modulate the number of immune cell types to reduce the volume of inflammation cause. Continue to read TCM Treatment Evaluation for Psoriasis.