[IlliteratePedant]

So I have quite mild psoriasis, but its on my face so its really something I could do without. I was told by a friend that her mom has it too and that it clears up when she goes on holiday. I did a bit of research online and got told that sunbeds help. So I went today and did 3 minutes and it seems to have helped but I know that UV light doesn't help everyone and I'm not sure the extent of the change I should be witnessing. The dead skin has pretty much all gone, but I am left with the red patches. Will these go after more trips to the tanning bed?

[IlliteratePedant]

It wasn't really a tanbed, it was one of the ones where you stand up, I didn't know what else to call it though!

But yeah, it was quite warm, although not as warm as I was expecting it to be. It was REALLY bright though, if I had had goggles on, I'd have probably come out blind! I was really nervous before I went in and the staff was quite dismissive but it was fine, I'm going to go for another session in a couple of days I think.

[Helenia]

It's the UV rather than the warmth that has the therapeutic effect, and it is quite well documented for psoriasis. I would be very careful balancing that against the risk of skin cancer though - talk to your GP/dermatologist who will be able to advise.

[IlliteratePedant]

(Original post by Helenia)
It's the UV rather than the warmth that has the therapeutic effect, and it is quite well documented for psoriasis. I would be very careful balancing that against the risk of skin cancer though - talk to your GP/dermatologist who will be able to advise.

I went to my GP several times and he just kept giving me all these different creams that didn't do anything apart from stink and stay on my skin for ages. I asked about seeing a dermatologist and he just said he'd prefer to run through a series of topical treatments before progressing onto anything else. I've been using them for months though, and I'm afraid I've run out of patience - I'll do nearly anything to get this thing off my face! I have thought about the risk of skin cancer, but I won't be using the sunbeds once the psoriasis is gone, I don't care about having a tan and aren't interested in maintaining one so this should only be a temporary thing.

Just don't know how often I'll need to be going and for how long. :/

[Helenia]

(Original post by IlliteratePedant)
I went to my GP several times and he just kept giving me all these different creams that didn't do anything apart from stink and stay on my skin for ages. I asked about seeing a dermatologist and he just said he'd prefer to run through a series of topical treatments before progressing onto anything else. I've been using them for months though, and I'm afraid I've run out of patience - I'll do nearly anything to get this thing off my face! I have thought about the risk of skin cancer, but I won't be using the sunbeds once the psoriasis is gone, I don't care about having a tan and aren't interested in maintaining one so this should only be a temporary thing.

Just don't know how often I'll need to be going and for how long. :/

If you're DIYing UV therapy, it's impossible for anyone on here to be able to tell you how long you'll need it for because we don't know what dose you need or what you're currently getting. That's why getting a dermatologist's opinion (they do this in a more controlled setting) would be useful.