9 Year Old Girl with Psoriasis

Dear J.,

Maybe you could see if there is a shampoo just for people with psoriasis, or look on the internet on Above.com/pediatrician, or www.drgreene.com, or just put in Psoriasis and see what comes up.

C. N.

What I bet she has is an allergy, most likely culpret is wheat. I had that problem for 40 years and doctors would Rx the nastiest stuff for me to put on it, to no avail. Some of that stuff is carcinogenic. I found out the real problem with my scalp when I discovered my son's wheat allergy and I removed wheat from my diet too, and viola. My so called "psorisis" was instantly cured. But being a wheat addict, after 6 months I had some pizza, and later snuck some spaghetti.... and it all came back. The actual skin problem is called Eczema. So try a wheat free diet for a few months and see if it gets better or cured. No cheating or it doesn't work so great. There are several websites devoted to gluten free diets including gfcfkids and various celiac disease sites. (celiac disease is also caused by wheat allergy). Good luck!

Hi J.,
I feel for you & your daughter- I have psoriasis myself & am praying my sons don't inherit it from me! I have gone between Western & Chinese medicine for years, and while neither one has cured it, both have helped to keep it manageable. WHile I'm sure you can find a good dermatologist, I wanted to recommend a Chinese doctor who specializes in dermatology. Actually, I'm not sure where you live- hopefully in the Bay Area! Her name is Dr. Jialing Yu, and nshe is near Daly City. It's far from me but worht the drive. Her number is ###-###-####. From the cards she has in her office, I can see that she has seemingly worked miracles on people who Western medicine has failed. (these are letters of thanks from clients). Insurance may be able to cover some of it. She is from China, and teaches at major Chinese medicine schools. Be careful about herbs coming from China though...anyway, good luck. Maybe because your daughter is young there is a good chance of nipping it inthe bud with Chinese Medicine. Tell her I said hello if you go!
all the best,
C.

Hi Jamie,
I"m sure you are getting all kinds of advice and products to use,so here is another.. I work for a wellness company that does not use preservatives or harsh chemicals in ANY of their products. I would love to send you some information I know this stuff works and it's so healthy for baby, and talk a bout a simple solution, I would ask you to try our laundry detergent (since it is one of the highest skin irritants there is) and of course her body was and lotion. I can't even tell you how much changing those 3 products helped my kids, my son used to scratch himself bloody when he was 18 months because his skin hurt and was so irritated all the time.

H.

http://wisemommy.fourpointwellness.com

Have your ped refer you to a dermatologist - everyone in my family including ALL the adults and all children/grandchildren have suffered through both eczema and psoriasis - I had eczema on my scalp as a young girl, and it was terribly embarrasing. The dermatologist needs to look at it to make sure that it is definitely psoriasis (if it is some other skin condition, the medication he gives you will not work properly): I was prescribed a clear topical liquid that my mother put on the effected areas once a day, and slowly, the rash went away.
A pediatrician really isnt qualified to diagnose many skin conditions, so they are generally happy and helpful about refering you to a good one.

My hubby has psoriasis and there is this book you can get that has ideas to help it. It's called "Healing Psoirasis, The Natural Alternative." The author is Dr. John OA Pagano. It talks about diet as well-staying away from citrus,etc. so you are helping your digestion so that it doesn't show up in your skin. I guess you can use vinegar as a topical but my hubby hasn't braved that one yet. The thing that he has been using that is clearing up some of his break-outs is probitotics. They are similiar to what you have in yogurt. You can buy these at Mother's Market. Be sure that they are the refrigerated kind because they are better preserved this way. The probiotics put healthy bacteria in your system so that you digest better and then your skin benefits b/c all the waste is not showing up there. Good luck! I can't wait to tell my hubby about the gluten free diet I read about from one of the other mom's responses. S.

Try the T/Gel therapeutic shampoo. You can get it at Target in the shampoo aisle. I found that the shampoo worked better than the cream that was given by my doctor. Good Luck!

Hi J.!

My eldest son has exzema (if I spelled that right <lol>), also an inherited trait I think. I don't have it, but it runs in my family. I know psoriasis is not the same thing, but it tends to respond to some of the same treatments, especially on the scalp. What helps my son is T/GEL therapeutic shampoo, the extra strength formula, by Neutrogena. You can get it at just about any drug store. It's a little on the expesive side, compared to other shampoos, but it really works! Believe it or not, tar is one of the ingredients in the formula and that's what makes it work so well with these kind of skin conditions. It doesn't smell pretty <lol>. But as my dad used to say, "You've got to suffer to be beautiful" <lol>
Hope this helps!
M.~

J., Living with psoriasis is a pain. I know because I had it for 10 years. Everything I read said it couldn't be cured....but something kept telling me it was my diet. A long story short, I discovered I was allergic (often referred to as intolerant or a food sensitivity) to wheat, dairy, chocolate, and corn. (A skin test will NOT accurately tell you this information.) Once I got off the offending foods, my psoriasis went away, never to return. It has been 6 years now. I'm pretty convinced it was the wheat (the gluten in the wheat...which is also in barley and rye) and the dairy. I met another woman who had severe psoriasis on her scalp her whole life. She discovered she was allergic to sugar (can you imagine that?) and once off sugar, her psoriasis went away.

So, there is hope, for both her AND you. This barely gives you enough information to move ahead with this idea, but if you would like to contact me via email I'm at ____@____.com't give up. There is always and answer. Food restriction may sound horrible, but believe me, the benefits outweigh the hassle by far. C.

If you are open to trying some new products, Arbonne may be a solution. I would recommend the baby care line. It is a gentle, unscented hair and body wash. There are tons of products. I use that and the To The Rescuse Hair Treatment as a leave in conditioner on my month old. It has been great for her cradle cap.
L.
Check www.arbonne.com for more info or you can call me. ###-###-####

Hi Jamie,
I am mother of 2 and I have had psoriasis since I was 20. I'm 39 now. After all these years I have found 2 things that help. I have a mild case of it, only on my elbows and knees, It used to be everywhere. I don't recomend the conventional stuff because if you read the side effects it's quite scary!!! There is a natural product called "Skin Zinc". I googled it and buy it from a company called Apple Health Food Store.There are other places to buy it too. It works great with none of those nasty side effects of the other stuff. The other thing that has worked for me(especially when I wasn't a mom and had more time for me...) is "mind over matter". It might sound hoakey, but that's how I got it off the rest of my body. Just tell yourself you don't want it there and really it can work! The sun is very good for clearing it up and a skin creme by Weleda called "Skin Food" is good to.That you can find at health foods store.
There is also a magazine I was turned onto called "The Psoriasis Connection". It is a frustrating annoyance and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I hope this info has helped. Give her a big hug for me. She's not alone!
K. M.