Psoriasis can be embarrassing when the patches of red, scaly skin are in a highly visible place such as your neck or arms. If the patches are on your hands, it may be difficult to keep medicated cream on them since you use your hands so much and wash them often. Light therapy is one alternative, but this treatment usually exposes large areas of your body, even healthy skin, to UV rays. One alternative is to have light treatments with a laser. Here's how lasers are used for psoriasis treatment.

Lasers Treat Localized Patches Of Psoriasis

Laser treatments are best used for localized areas of psoriasis. The treatments are applied with a handheld laser wand so the light shines on a small area of your body. This keeps UV rays away from healthy skin. However, if your psoriasis patches are spread over a wide area such as across your back or all over your leg, then laser treatments wouldn't be the best choice. Instead, if you wanted to use light therapy as a treatment, your dermatologist might use a light box that could shine UV rays on a wide area of your skin during the treatment.

Multiple Treatments Are Often Needed

Just like with traditional light therapy, you'll need to go to the dermatologist's office for a series of treatments. Your treatment schedule might be a couple of times a week for a few weeks depending on how well your psoriasis responds to the treatment. When the series of treatments are over, your plaques should be diminished for a period of several months, although you may need occasional treatments to keep the plaques away. Your treatment plan is individualized to how your plaques respond and how often you have outbreaks.

Laser Treatments For Psoriasis Are Controlled

The lasers used for psoriasis deliver UVB light deep into your skin. The depth of the light is determined by the thickness of your lesions. Because the UV rays can be controlled much better with a laser as compared to a light box, a higher dose can be used. The benefit is that you'll need fewer treatments when you have laser light therapy.

Laser treatments often have a reputation for being hot or painful. However, you shouldn't feel too much discomfort while taking the treatments. You might feel some heat or a slight stinging sensation, but there is minimal pain. After the treatment, the area may be red and you should protect your skin from the sun. If you are very sensitive to the sun or are susceptible to skin cancer, you may not be a good candidate for this type of psoriasis treatment. If you're a good match, then laser therapy could be an effective way to treat your condition, especially in hard to reach areas like your elbows and in targeted areas such as your neck or arms where the lesions are localized and highly visible.