Holistic Treatment for Psoriasis

What you need to know

For personalized treatment of psoriasis and other skin conditions, reach out for an appointment at (425) 686-4498, as soon as possible so we can get you on the track to healing!

Holistic Treatment for Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory condition, affecting about 11% of the population. Often people report raised red scaly patches around elbows, knees, or even their scalp. Psoriasis is often associated with psoriatic arthritis, effecting their joints.

What are treatment options for psoriasis?

Standard therapies include topical steroid creams, anti-inflammatory ointments, and even UV light therapy. However, often patients continue to experience symptoms and seek alternative care.

What I have found in my practice is that if you don’t look at possible root causes, help to heal the gut, calm inflammation, and restore and protect the skin barrier, psoriasis symptoms will continue. One of the treatment options available that is found to be safe and highly effective is acupuncture along with naturopathic medicine.

How acupuncture can help

There are numerous studies that show just how acupuncture can help with psoriasis and other chronic inflammatory disorders. Often in Chinese medicine, the root cause/etiology of psoriasis is what we call “damp heat.” There are specific acupuncture points and protocols that help to address the underlying cause of the psoriasis plaques as well as helping to address other concerns associated with psoriasis, specifically.

Acupuncture can also help to reduce whole body inflammation, reduce local pain, and help with the anxiety and emotion piece commonly associated with skin conditions.

Additional Treatment options and why we look at the whole person

In addition to looking at diet and lifestyle factors, using acupuncture to help calm down symptoms, there are also specific topical herbal formulations that have been shown to help psoriasis. Often patients are not responding to steroids long-term or notice that with long-term application of the steroid creams, it makes skin conditions flare worse.

While there are many ways to support the body’s natural healing process at home , the most effective Chinese Medicine for psoriasis is a customized herbal formula tailored to your specific pattern.

Some lifestyle keys to help manage flare-ups are to, firstly, avoid triggers such as stress, anxiety, and alcohol. Often simply soaking in a warm (not hot) epsom or mineral salt bath can calm angry, itchy skin. Regular saunas have provided relief for many to help reduce inflammation and combat stress.

Usually those suffering from psoriasis will become familiar with specific foods that can aggravate the skin such as spicy foods, caffeine, dairy, gluten, and other potentially allergenic foods like peanuts, corn, soy or citrus. It is recommended to keep a food diary to get to know your individual sensitivities.

At Starting Point, we offer a psoriasis program which include specific food allergy testing, as we “test and don’t guess” at to what foods maybe contributing to skin flares. However, some cooling foods that can help reduce heat in skin include mung beans, dandelion greens, broccoli, bok choi, cucumber, watermelon, pineapple, pears, celery, and white radish. Probiotics can also be taken to support gut health as well.