Pustular Psoriasis - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Pustular psoriasis is a form of psoriasis that is not really that common. There are visible changes in the skin, caused due to the disease. The skin changes that happen under pustular psoriasis might be a lot like regular psoriasis, so people need to make sure that the diagnosis is done right.
Symptoms of pustular psoriasis
The most important among the symptoms of pustular psoriasis are the raised bumps on the skin, that will be filed with thick, white, fluid, or pus which is a sign of infection. The skin around these pus-filled bumps is red. The pustules usually appear in the genital areas. They might even happen on the tongue, making it tough for people to eat. People might get sick before the pustules break out with some feverish temperatures, coughing etc.
After a while, a lot of the pustules do start fusing together. They might dry up and start peeling off as well, which would be very uncomfortable for the skin. The pustules might keep growing and fusing in a cycle. After a point of time, if the pustule growth lasts more than two to three months, there are chances that the person's hair will start falling off too.
Since the symptoms of pustular psoriasis can be a lot like normal psoriasis, some people might start showing symptoms involving raised skin filled with scales and such.
Types of pustular psoriasis
General type of pustular psoriasis can cause a lot of issues in people, for it is not just a skin condition. It is accompanied with a lot of health issues as well, such as fever, cold, etc. The subacute type is characterized by the ring shaped type of psoriasis. These people will not really show any symptoms beside the skin ones. The ring type psoriasis is also just common among children, mostly. Another form of psoriasis is infantile or juvenile one. This is the one that hits the children, in fact.
Medical Treatment for Pustular Psoriasis
The medical treatment for pustular psoriasis can be divided into two parts- the topical therapy and the systematic therapy.
Under topical therapy, the cure for pustular psoriasis is found in the form of medication that has to be applied on the skin itself, in the form of creams, gels, etc. Usually, these medications are vitamin D, coal tar or corticosteroids. One cannot say that there is one gel or cream that is the best pustular psoriasis treatment drug, for it depends a lot on the person's personal condition as well. It would not do well for people to self-medicate themselves because of pustular psoriasis, so they have to make sure that they get the doctor's advice first.
Systematic therapy is the pustular psoriasis treatment for normal psoriasis. Some agents like retinoid or PUVA would be required for initiating the cure for pustular psoriasis in this way. This is for cure for severe psoriasis. For the milder and moderate forms, the topical cure for pustular psoriasis should be tried first and then this.
Natural Cure for Pustular Psoriasis
There are a few natural treats that might help in the process of pustular psoriasis treatment. Tree bark extracts are believed to be really good for curing this disease. It is also suggested that people who are in danger of getting pustular psoriasis or those who have already gotten it use bland compresses on the skin where the pustules are. Oatmeal baths would help soothe the skin and heal the pustule ridden areas as well. Using saline water would also help for the same reasons. In fact, this is all the pustular psoriasis treatment children need.
Preventing pustular psoriasis
Pustular Psoriasis can be prevented by avoiding smoking, excess sun exposure, pollution etc. This might help in preventing pustular psoriasis or reducing its effect. Preventing over consumption of alcohol would also be really beneficial. A balanced and healthy diet would also go a long way in preventing pustular psoriasis among people.