Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that is very typical and causes lots of irritation, discomfort & stress to the patient. This comes under autoimmune disorder and there is no treatment in allopathy for this disease. Only symptomatic relief, steroids, and anti-allergic medicines are there which are not able to cure the disease.
Psoriasis is a skin condition that speeds up the life cycle of skin cells. It causes cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin. The extra skin cells form scales and red patches that cause itching and Shedd's off from the body as scales.
Psoriasis can be correlated with maha kusht in Ayurveda. It is moha kusth Rog and needs repeated shodhan (panchkarma chikitsa) and shaman chikitsa. In this disease, rakta dhatu dushti occurs & it affects twacha, rakta, mansa, lasika, etc. and with time all dhatus dushti occurs. It is very difficult in Ayurveda also. Patients need patience and should follow the pathya as instructed by the ayurvedic doctor for permanent recovery from this disease. Psoriasis has unknown causes and it is not infectious. Psoriasis is mostly found in the middle age group mainly 20-40 years of age patients are affected. Psoriasis has no cure in the whole world, only symptomatic treatment is there. Patients should realize this fact and should follow Ayurveda treatment, lifestyle changes, Panchakarma treatment, yoga, diet plan, etc. for early and safe recovery from this disease.
Causes of Psoriasis
This disease has unknown causes in Allopathic science but in Ayurveda, mithya ahar and vihar is the main cause of disease. Taking more spicy food, fried items, non-veg food, salty food, sweets cakes, preserved food, more tea, coffee, alcohol intake, smoking, stressful lifestyle, too many worries, irregular sleeping habits, emotional stress, financial losses, etc. can disturb our doshas and this disease can occur. Stress is a common cause, autoimmune disorders are the same in this disease.
Diagnosis
Diagnosed usually based on the appearance of the skin. This disease is due to an unknown cause. Some blood tests of ESR, Immunoglobulins, Vitamin-D, etc. can help to find the disease. A skin biopsy or scraping is done to confirm the diagnosis.
Symptoms for Psoriasis
The main symptoms of psoriasis are patches on the body mainly on the scalp, elbow, fingers and knees, legs area. Patches are white- reddish, silver-colored and scales of skin shed off. Severe itching is there and pain also occurs due to scratching and bleeding also occurs. Lesions are spreading throughout the body with time.
In Ayurveda, the disease can be diagnosed according to dosha Prokop. In Vata Prokop, there is dryness, cracks on skin and lesions are rough, dry & hard in shape. In pitta Prokop, burning redness & inflammation is found. The patient feels heat & burning in the whole body.
In Kapha Prokop, severe itching is found in patches and with this, thickening of the skin occurs. Psoriasis can also cause inflammation of the joints, which is known as psoriatic arthritis.
Genital lesions, especially on the head of the penis are common. It can also be found on nails, buttocks area & most common on scalp & knee, elbow region. Scales are shedding like dandruff from the scalp and itching is there.
Psoriasis Treatment in Ayurveda
Psoriasis comes under maha kushtha rog in Ayurveda and it needs repeated shodhan and shamana chikitsa for a long time. This is a chronic disease and needs time to recover. Treatment is done with Panchkarma treatment and internal medicines and with this, local application of oil & powders. In panchkarma treatment, vamana, karma ,virechana, karma, raktamokshana & takradhara treatment are advised with proper pathya sevan. By panchakarma treatment, detoxification of the body is done and with this, the balance of dosha occurs. For stress relief, takradhara is done & regular yoga, meditation, strict diet plans & counseling is done for permanent recovery from this disease.
This disease takes a long time for recovery, so proper instructions should be followed & panchkarma treatments are repeated after 03 months or 06 months based on dosha Prokop.
Ayurvedic medicines are planned according to dosha Prokop and Rasayana medicines are also advised to build immunity of the body. Different types of powders, tablets, kashayam, ghritha, oils are used according to the severity of the disease.
Prevention and Lifestyle Changes
- A proper diet is advised to prevent this skin disease. Mainly fried food, oily food, sweets, fast food, milk products, maida items, cakes creams, salty items, non-veg food, sauce, pickles are avoided strictly.
- Alcohol, smoking should be avoided completely.
- Patients should do regular yoga, pranayam, exercise, and meditation to reduce stress, anxiety, negative thoughts, etc.
- Proper cleaning of the skin is advised with the boiled neem patra leaves in water & taking bath with this water is very helpful to prevent skin disease.
- Green Gram flour, Multani mitti, etc. are advised to clean the skin.
- Virudha ahar of milk + dish, milk + salty food, ghee + honey, etc. are advised to avoid in the diet to prevent this disease.
- Daytime sleep, late-night sleep should be avoided.
Home Remedies
Along with the Psoriasis treatment in Ayurveda, some home remedies are as follows-
- Daily take 5-5 neem patra + fresh giloy 03 angula two times a day. It helps to purify blood & improve immunity.
- Take a bath with neem patra leaves boiled in water.
- Make powder of manjistha + giloy + kutki + haldi & take half spoon two times with water for blood purification.
- Apply cows ghee on lesions for skin softening & it reduces scaling redness.
- Take more fruits & raw vegetables in food. It helps in blood purification, improves immunity & helps in body detoxification.
- Daily do yoga, meditation, and Havana with the mahamritunjay mantra for spiritual healing of our body.
Summary
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that affects both body and mind. It is an autoimmune disease and due to this, skin layer formation becomes early. It is 10 times faster than normal skin formation. Due to this, dead skin scales shed off from skin and lots of pinkish, white, or red patches occur on the whole body mainly on the scalp, chest, elbow & knee joint. In allopathic medical science, there is no treatment to cure, only symptomatic treatment is there. Patients have to suffer for many years with lots of side effects of modern medicines.
By Ayurveda, we can treat the disease as Ayurveda has both shodhan and shaman treatment. By various panchakarma procedures e.g. vamana, Virechana karma, raktmokshan, takradhara, lepa treatment. It can detoxify our body and with this, internal ayurvedic medicines are given to cure the disease. This disease comes under maha kusth rog in Ayurveda and takes time to recover. Repeated panchakarma has to be done for 01-02 years with strict diet control and with this for relaxation of mind - yoga, pranayama, meditation, spiritual talks, etc. are also important.
So it is the time for awareness and when a patient is diagnosed with psoriasis, they should approach an ayurvedic doctor for complete, fast, and safe recovery from this disease.