One of the forms of non-infectious chronic diseases can be psoriasis on the hands. It causes a lot of inconvenience to a person. Because of the numerous badges, it becomes more difficult for him to do housework. The patient develops self-doubt, against the background of which isolation and social renunciation develop. With this diagnosis, psoriatic eruptions affect the fingers, palms, nails, and other areas of the hands. It is very difficult to cope with the disease on your own. If a person wants to recover, they should turn to a qualified specialist.
Causes of occurrence
Doctors identify various reasons for psoriatic rashes to form on the hands. In any case, individual treatment is required. In order to correctly determine therapy, the doctor needs to find out the factor that led to the activation of the autoimmune disease. The reason for the development of psoriasis on the hands can be in the following conditions:
- Impaired immune system;
- Psycho-emotional overload;
- hereditary predisposition;
- Metabolic disorders;
- Poor diet
- Bad habits;
- Chronic skin diseases;
- Climate change;
- Poisoning of the body.
Psoriatic rashes on the hands are often caused by prolonged use of medication. If left untreated, plaque can spread to the joints, shoulders, and other parts of the body.
Symptoms
To find out in what form psoriasis is manifested on the hands, you should look at the photos that patients with this disease show. Images in medical reference books and on thematic websites can be used to compare non-natural rashes. In addition, the disease can be recognized by its characteristic signs.
The symptoms of psoriasis on the hands are as follows:
- Redness of the skin of the upper extremities;
- Severe drought;
- Swelling and thickening of the layers of the skin;
- Cracking of the formed pustules;
- Pain in the affected area;
- Fusion of individual rashes.
People who are predisposed to the disease should definitely know what psoriasis looks like. Then they can recognize it in time and start treatment without waiting for a pathological rash to grow.
Disease stages
It is much easier to cure psoriasis in the first stage of its spread. To understand how to overcome psoriasis on the hands, the first thing you need to find out is what stage of development it is at.
In total, there are 3 main phases in the development of psoriasis, which is localized in the area of the hands:
- Progressive. Small rashes appear on healthy skin. They have light scales in the middle. Gradually the rash grows, which leads to the formation of plaques;
- Stationary. The rash stops appearing. Their growth also stops. The surface affected by psoriasis begins to peel off;
- Regressive. The plaques flatten, stop peeling off a lot, and gradually dissolve. No marks are left on the skin where they were.
The condition of the skin and the presence of certain symptoms in the patient help to calculate the belonging of the psoriasis to one of the stages.
How to treat psoriasis on the hands
Psoriasis on the hands requires complex therapy. The most important is the drug and topical treatment of the plaque. In addition, doctors recommend physiotherapeutic procedures that have a positive effect on the condition of the skin.
Glucocorticosteroids
At the initial stage of psoriatic disease, which leads to the formation of plaques on the hands, the use of such funds is necessary:
- Salicylic ointment;
- Local acting glucocorticosteroids;
- Fluorinated glucocorticosteroids;
You need to be very careful with drugs belonging to this group. They are very dangerous to health as they can cause serious complications and side effects. Sometimes the disease worsens even more after stopping the drug.
As a result of prolonged treatment with these agents, signs of malaise may appear, which are manifested in the form of excessive hair growth and atrophy. Therefore, their use is allowed only after a doctor's prescription.
Calcipotriol
Psoriasis on the hands can be treated with drugs that contain calcipotriol. The initial stage of the disease is much more suitable for such therapy. Although it is better to apply it in the latter stages of development. Unlike previous drugs, products containing calcipotriol do not cause skin atrophy. They also have no cancellation effect.
Calcipotriol supplements should be taken once a day. The daily norm of the substance should not exceed 15 g. The first results of treatment according to this scheme are noticeable for about 2 weeks. A drug course with these means should not last longer than 2 months.
Preparations based on tar and naftalan
Psoriasis that has affected the hands, fingers and palms of the hands responds well to treatment with preparations containing tar and naphthalan. They are relatively safe for health and have a relatively low cost. Therefore, such treatment will be affordable for many patients.
When treating with tar and naphthalan agents, a number of rules must be followed. Doctors do not recommend using them in the fight against a disease that has spread to large areas of skin. If you neglect this advice, you can improve the development of the pathological process. In addition, tar drugs can lead to complications in chronic illnesses.
Hand psoriasis can be treated with injections of antihistamines. Also, the introduction of sodium thiosulfate in an amount of up to 10 ml per day does no harm. In such a volume, a 10% calcium chloride solution is often prescribed. In addition, your doctor may prescribe sedative medication.
When treating psoriatic eruptions on the hands, it is common to use gels. After applying the creams, a positive result is obtained. Ointment therapy is no less effective. All of these drugs can contain hormones or consist of natural ingredients. Hormonal ointment for psoriasis on the hands is more often used in advanced diseases. In the early stages, you can get by with safer topical medicines.
If necessary, doctors recommend that patients resort to more aggressive means that do not give the disease a single chance. These are aromatic retinoids. One of the best among them is an aqueous gel with a concentration of 0. 05% or 0. 1%.
As auxiliary drugs are prescribed:
- TNF inhibitors;
- Keratolytic agents;
- Immunomodulators.
If the treatment works, the disease will go into remission. The patient is no longer bothered by her symptoms until the next exacerbation. Preventive means that maintain health in a normal state will help avoid new outbreaks of the pathological process.
Traditional treatment
To treat or prevent psoriasis on the hands, you can use products prepared according to traditional medicine recipes. With their help, it is impossible to cope with the disease. But they significantly increase the effects of drugs and physiotherapeutic procedures, which is also an important advantage.
It is worth trying to overcome psoriasis disease with the help of the following folk remedies:
- Homemade ointment. It is made from celandine powder (1/2 teaspoon), baby cream (5 g) and egg white. The resulting mixture must be applied to the skin of the hands about three times a day until the painful rashes go away;
- Baths with sea salt. This remedy is recommended for patients who develop psoriasis in the last stage;
- Natural oils. In order to moisturize dry skin, you need to use this particular product. Flaxseed, apricot, olive, and sea buckthorn oils are perfect;
- Solid oil. This substance in its pure form must be applied to the affected areas of the hands every evening before going to bed.
It's best to combine several home remedies together to speed your recovery.
Herbal treatment
On the positive side, phytotherapy manifests itself. It is irreplaceable in psoriasis. In order for herbs to help get rid of psoriatic plaques on the hands, you need to know exactly what form and amount to use them.
To get rid of the signs of psoriasis on the hands, you can use the following medicinal plants:
- Celandine. To treat painful rashes, you need its juice. You should smear the plaques liberally, being careful not to get on healthy skin so as not to cause burns. The duration of such treatment should not exceed 3 months;
- Sunflower. With its help, medical compresses are made. You will need young baskets of the plant that should be ground. Then water is added to the resulting mass. The finished compress is applied to the entire affected area. Sunflower prevents the spread of disease and soothes inflammation;
- A mixture of chamomile, celandine, mint, lavender and linden. A medicinal broth is made from this, which is then added to the hand bath.
It is worth preparing various decoctions and infusions from these plants, which can help eliminate painful symptoms. The most important thing is that the person is not allergic to the herbs they are using.
Homeopathy and psoriasis
Many patients practice the treatment of psoriasis that has spread to the hands with homeopathic remedies. They are selected depending on a person's constitutional structure. This therapy helps to reconfigure the body and restore the disturbed balance in it.
It is common to combine homeopathic medicines with medicines of the organotropic type. They are reflected in a special way on the activity of internal organs and systems.
If you have any questions about choosing the right remedy, you should consult an experienced homeopath.
prevention
Hand psoriasis may periodically subside and worsen. It is in the patient's best interests to keep the disease in remission for an extended period of time to avoid the next appearance of plaques on different parts of the body. Preventive measures will help cope with this task:
- It is necessary to take care of the cleanliness of the skin of the hands;
- You should adhere to proper nutrition and give up bad habits;
- It is necessary to regularly take vitamin complexes to strengthen the immune system;
- Do not expose your hands to chemicals.
If a person does not violate these rules, then psoriasis will not bother them for a long time.