so welcome to this week's video we are talking about scalp psoriasis we're going to talk about
scalp psoriasis treatment and scalp psoriasis removal so at the end of this week's video
you're going to become a bit of a sculpturizer's pro so welcome to my channel if you haven't been
here before we talk about everything medical and healthcare here on the channel all of the
information that we give is always supported and backed up by scientific evidence so you know you
can trust the information that we're going to give you also with every single video we always
do chapter in the description below so if there's any relevant information that you want to find
feel free to click on the description below click on the relevant bit that is relevant to you and
go straight to it however as i would always say please make sure to watch the whole video because
there's so much to learn also before we begin please don't forget if you find anything helpful
in today's video if you think to yourself you know what i learned something new today that was
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i'm just going to help the video grow now let's begin so first of all what is psoriasis psoriasis
is a long-term skin condition where the skin becomes red it can sometimes become crusty can
become flaky it can become inflamed and sometimes that crusty thickened skin can have a silver scaly
appearance as well when we say scalp psoriasis this is obviously just on the scalp so it's gross
psoriasis of the scalp and please remember psoriasis has got nothing to do with hygiene so
it doesn't mean that you're unhygienic it doesn't mean you can pass it on to someone you can't catch
it from someone it's just an unfortunate skin condition that some people get now in
terms of what causes psoriasis it's actually caused by an abnormal skin production cycle so
in normal individuals it usually takes about three to four weeks for the skin
cycle to kind of recycle in terms of psoriasis we're talking three to seven days so hence why
you get that build up and thickening of the skin and then you get that scaly appearance as well as
a result of it now when it comes to psoriasis it's one of these conditions that we don't actually
know what is causing it it's a condition that we call an autoimmune condition this is where we
believe that the immune system is causing this to occur now what's causing that in the first place
is still to be discovered but it's what we call an autoimmune condition so the immune system is
attacking itself and causing this to happen and please do remember that psoriasis can generally
happen anywhere on the body but it's more prominent on the elbows on the knees sometimes
it can be on the lower back however this video we are just specifically focusing on scalp psoriasis
which can be particularly troublesome for a lot of people out there so i really do hope that you
find this information helpful now with psoriasis sometimes it can disappear on its own it can come
back on its own as well sometimes we can have what you call a flare-up so the skin condition
is becoming a lot more aggressive so for example if you've got scalp psoriasis and it's been more
aggressive it's going more itchy it's becoming more flaky and thicker sometimes that's often
known as a flare-up sometimes when we're having a flare-up as well scalp psoriasis we can experience
hair loss as well because the optimum environment for the actual hair follicles isn't there
sometimes the hair will fall generally speaking the head does grow back once we get the psoriasis
under control as well now before we begin with scalp psoriasis treatments i just want to go
through a few general points of advice that anyone can do with psoriasis first of all stress has been
linked to making psoriasis worse so please think about it if you're doing something you know in
work in your life that's really stressful that you can particularly avoid that's causing it
that can actually help with the psoriasis as well and the symptoms that you're having so
really think about the stress and you know having coping mechanisms as well that could help with it
to help reduce your stress levels also if you smoke as well smoking can make psoriasis worse
quitting smoking can also be really really helpful with psoriasis these are just general things that
we can all do as well as having a healthy balanced diet these are all things that will potentially
help with psoriasis now with all these three things i do have videos on how to quit smoking
so if you want more information on it it's going to be up here for you i also have more
information on eating a healthy balanced diet and what you need to do again it's going to be up here
and lastly like i said if you do stress as well i have quite a few videos on different stress
and relaxation techniques that you might find helpful and again i'm gonna leave it up here
they're all gonna be in the description below for you as well now alcohol has also been linked to
potentially making psoriasis worse so please have a look of how much alcohol you're having if you're
having more than the recommended amount of alcohol per week you need to try and cut down i will leave
a calculator in the description below that you can use to calculate how many units of alcohol
you're having it will give you some advice as well if you're having too much and what you need to do
so please do check that out as well and lastly before we move on psoriasis treatments
obesity has also been linked to making psoriasis worse and causing more flare-ups so please again
have a look at your bmi again i'm gonna leave a link in the description below i'm sorry i'm
leaving so many links but i just wanted to give this quick bit of general advice before we move
on to the treatment i will leave a link in the description where you can calculate your bmi if
you are overweight and you actually want to lose some weight i do have quite a few videos on this
topic already which have had over 20 30 million views that helped a lot of people looking at
scientific ways to actually reduce you know your way and how you can do it the healthy way so if
you want more information on that again i'm gonna leave it up here and in the description below
i'm sorry i've done so many links right now but i just really want to give that general piece of
advice right at the beginning so you can actually make some changes if you see if you think it's
yourself actually i can make these few changes as well that are going to help in my psoriasis
now let's begin with some treatments now in terms of scalp psoriasis treatments there are a range of
different things that we can try there are also some over-the-counter options that you can buy
here in the uk i'm not sure about other parts of the world and the regulations are different but
there are treatments that you can buy here in the uk so these treatments fall into three different
categories so first of all we're talking topical treatments so we're talking ointments lotions
creams that sort of apply topically to the area the next sort of treatment we're talking is
phototherapy this is where uv light is used to to help with the psoriasis and also we have systemic
treatment which is obviously like through a capsule or a tablet so we're having medicine
orally to help with the symptoms so in terms of topical treatments i am going to go into
exactly how we apply topical treatments in some detail eventually but now let's go through each
topical treatment and learn a bit more about them now the first kind of topical treatment
that we're talking about is going to be a moisturizer okay so moisturizers can be
used on the scalp it depends which moisturizer as well so you will need to speak to healthcare
professional about that but these can be really helpful at helping to lock in the moisture on
the scalp especially when a scalp is damaged it's really good to put some moisturizer on it
rub it in deep into the scalp to help retain that moisture and stop water from loot from coming from
the scalp and losing it and making it really dry this can be really helpful also some other
topical treatments actually work better when the scalp is moisturized rather than being very dry
so again it can be very helpful for that if you are using other topical treatments okay so you're
going to use a moisturizer plus other topical treatments it's best to wait at least 30 minutes
before applying the next topical treatment now the next topical treatment i'd like to discuss
is steroids steroids can be really helpful at reducing the inflammation and reducing that
rapid turnover of skin cells that we spoke about earlier please remember though steroids can cause
thinning of the skin so please be aware of that also generally speaking it's recommended that you
don't use a topical steroid for more than two months however this can be different in terms
of if you if your healthcare professional is advising you to use it for longer that's
completely fine as long as they're monitoring you there is an issue but please remember that
steroid overuse as well can sometimes be a big issue especially if your healthcare professional
isn't sort of involved in this process and you're just doing it on your own back so always involve
your healthcare professional let them know what you're doing so they can be aware how long you're
using the steroid and when to taper down and what to do this is one of the most important
things that you need to remember with steroids now the next topical medicine that i'd like to
discuss are coal tar preparations again these can be quite helpful with psoriasis when you've got
real thickening of the scalp so real scaling going on and the coal tar can help break down
that scaling break down that flakiness okay and break down the sort of dead skin that's on top
the only thing about coal tar that you remember is one it can quite excessively dry the scalp
so that's also important to remember and it can leave a really really final smell okay they're not
the most pleasant things to use but be aware of it they're usually used with other topical treatments
as well that your healthcare professional would advise you on now moving on to another topical
medicine that are often prescribed for scalp psoriasis of vitamin d and vitamin d analogs okay
these are tablets that you take these are also ointments or lotions that you use on the scalp
they can be quite helpful at reducing the inflammation and reducing that turnover
of the skin cells that we spoke about earlier with psoriasis sometimes you can get vitamin
d analogues and a steroid in combination these are quite often prescribed as well and actually
quite helpful as well so again this is another form of treatment to make you aware of and the
final topical medicine that i want to make you aware of is calcium neuron inhibitors these
are often prescribed by specialists they're not usually the first line treatment that we go for
they reduce the inflammation and they reduce the immune system that's causing so a topical area
so it's reducing the immune system in that area that might be causing the psoriasis again it's
not the first line treatment so this has just been a bit of an overview of different topical
treatments that we have available for psoriasis okay so now that we've got the basics about scalp
psoriasis treatments to topical treatments that are available now let's talk about applications
so how do we apply these topical applications to get the most out of it because this
is probably one of the most critical parts that not a lot of people speak about so a lot of people
aren't aware what to do they're just thinking i'll just put this in my hair and that's it but there's
actually a few things that you can do that are really going to help them be even more effective
so let's begin okay so first of all if your scalp has some really thick scales on it okay so we've
got some thick crusting on top of your scalp remember this is just going to mean if this is
your scalp for example and you've got this thick layer on top of it that's like that and that's
your actual initial scalp when you're putting your topical preparation on it it's not going to
go down to that bottom area that we want it to go it's just going to get stuck there so it's a bit
of a waste of medication so what we need to do is try and reduce that thickening that scaling so we
need to try and get rid of it so one way like we said about the moisture right is that moisturizer
at the start is to apply a moisturizer to the scalp so for example you can use olive oil you
can use coconut oil coconut oil i find patients really find helpful because it doesn't leave that
greasy residue that olive oil does and some people use emulsifying ointment as well on their scalp
okay so you really need to rub it into your scalp it's not about rubbing it into your hair
that's really not going to make much of a difference you really need to get it rubbed
into your scalp be gentle okay and generally speaking if you can put a shower cap on or
something like that and leave it on overnight okay the longer you leave it on the better it's
going to be at helping with that thickening of the psoriasis okay that thickening on top of the scalp
so once you've left it on the next day go for a shower okay and wash it off using your medicated
shampoo or any other shampoo that your healthcare professional has recommended you to use so wash
it off gently sort of really sort of you know rubbing inside the scalp to try and get it off
and to clear the scalp as much as possible this is just going to get rid of that thickening it's
going to get rid of those layers eventually okay some people find that combing through actually can
help dislodge some of these scales as well which can do as well and it's a good idea but you need
to be gentle you don't really want to be going harsh and you don't want to be picking at them
as well with your finger because this might cause more damage than good so you just need to gently
do it and slowly give it time okay it's not going to be a one-time thing and it's going
to get rid of it all completely i promise you you need to give it time you need to be patient
and eventually these scales and the thickening will reduce okay so once you've done all that
let's say next you need to apply some medicated topical lotion or something like that okay it can
be any of the options that we've discussed because we've gone through how they work and what they do
so whichever option that your healthcare professional has prescribed you and recommend
it to you you're gonna apply that now the first thing i would highly recommend everyone does
is to get some kind of band or something to put across their forehead okay this is going to be
really important because it's inevitable that when you put some scalp lotion on or whatever
it's gonna drip down okay and sometimes these can be quite potent steroids and potent means
like strong steroids basically we don't want it to really go on our face because our skin on our
face is so thin and eventually if you're doing it every day let's say for a month or two months and
it's dripping down it will cause damage to your skin and you don't want that so the first thing
i'd highly recommend is everyone buys some kind of hairband or something that you can just wear
across the head and obviously change it every couple of days because i'm sure it will get
stuff on it or just keep washing it and cleaning it after you've used it so that's the first thing
next thing you need to do is really sort of think about parting the hair slowly into into different
sections and applying the lotion i sometimes recommend to patients as well to wear a glove
i find that medical gloves can be really helpful for this especially again you're using topical
steroids it's gonna cause damage to your fingers and your skin as well the scalp is a different
type of type of texture of the skin compared to your hands and face and the parts of your body so
i would wear medicated gloves or just some gloves that you can just dispose of okay that could be
really helpful so partitioning it and going into sections using the recommended amount that's been
directed in the information leaflet and really patting it in okay so when you're applying it
afterwards patting it in gently with your fingers and sort of pressing it in and kind of massaging
the scalp slowly just for it to really get into the scalp and really be effective that is the best
way that i can recommend in terms of using the treatments topical treatments obviously follow
the instructions okay but if you're finding it to be too greasy if you find any topical you know
the topical products to be too greasy and too sticky speak to your healthcare professional okay
there are loads of different options available in terms of topical treatments for psoriasis and
it can prescribe you different types of lotions which might work better for you and you might
find them more easy to apply it because that's one of the main things when you've got scalps rises
it can be difficult to apply especially if you've got thick hair and sometimes you might feel like
you know when i'm applying it you know i'm losing hair and it's kind of like a negative
feedback because you then don't want to apply it because your then hair's going to fall out but
trust me if we do get the psoriasis under control the hair does generally speaking usually grow
back so i really hope this information helps you so now that we spoke about the topical treatments
and how to use them i just want to go through some general tips now as well make sure that
you're brushing your hair okay like i said earlier as well when you feel like your hair's falling out
you don't really want to brush your hair as much because you feel like it's all going to fall out
but brushing the hair can also help stimulate hair growth as well but it's also going to help
with the psoriasis and get rid of the flakes and the thickening okay so it's important that
we still brush our hair now sometimes scalp psoriasis can become visible and i know it can
affect some people's confidence and self-esteem and it's normal okay but please remember i don't
think anyone looks at it and is going to judge you for it so please don't let it get to you but
it's definitely a good idea to maybe speak to your hairdresser or your barber to think of some ideas
maybe to cover it as well some different cuts that you can do to be a bit creative and maybe cover it
if it is affecting you you know your self-esteem and your confidence and you're feeling a little
embarrassed about it but please don't but if you are there are them sort of options to think
about as well now i know we spoke about vitamin d medicines in terms of topical treatments and some
of the analogues topical ones but also there has been some great research shown that taking vitamin
d as well especially being vitamin d deficient okay can increase firstly our hair loss it can
also cause us to have worse skin okay it can cause flare-ups and cause x-men can cause dry skin so
i'd highly recommend it if you do have psoriasis definitely look at getting a vitamin d supplement
okay it doesn't have to be a massive dose speak to your healthcare professional for what they
recommend to you you can buy them over the counter they're relatively inexpensive these days vitamin
d but it's definitely a good idea because there's been a lot of research supporting vitamin d and
we've seen a lot of research showing actual low vitamin d is seen in a lot of patients who've got
external psoriasis skin conditions these kinds of things so it's definitely a good idea to get
supplemented with one and as with all the medical products please remember to read the information
leaflet that comes with it read the instructions that come with it speak to your health care
professional make sure that you're safe and suitable to use and ask them questions on how
to use it as well your healthcare professionals are there to help and i know it can sometimes be
a bit confusing and complicated how to use these products okay because i've seen loads of patients
who have really struggled to apply them and because it's difficult to do it sometimes you just
don't do it anymore so speak to your healthcare restaurant let them know how you feel and let them
know what's working for you and let them know what's not working for you that's what they're
there for they are there to help you i promise you they will not be upset you're not taking their
time that's what they're there for okay so we've come to the end of this week's video i really do
hope that you found this information helpful it's been a bit of a tricky video for me to kind of
structure and put into place but we went through the different treatment options that are available
i really did focus more on the topical treatments because i think that's the main thing that people
struggle with the other sort of treatments are easy to use but it's more the topical ones that
are difficult to apply and knowing what to do with them so i really do hope that you find
this information helpful if you have any of your own tips as well please leave some comments below
because i would love to read and i'm sure everyone else watching this video would love to as well
if you've you know found a certain product to work well for you if you found a certain technique to
work well for you leave a comment below again i'm telling you people will be interested to learn
more as well as i always say at the end of every single week's video please always remember that
you're awesome and i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make
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