Chinese Herbal Medicine for Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a relatively common skin disease, occurring in about 2% of the population. Onset is usually between 10 and 30 years of age, and tends to run in families. In its most common form it presents itself with thickened patches of inflamed, red skin, covered with waxy silvery scales which tend to occur on elbows, knees, scalp, trunk, and back. This is known as plaque psoriasis. It is considered incurable by allopathic medicine, although acute flare-ups can subside, while severity and suffering vary considerably.


On the other hand, Chinese herbal medicine can treat this illness completely in 60% of sufferers, and partially in the remaining 40%, over a period of several weeks. By the third to seventh week of treatment, there should be unmistakable reduction in symptoms, motivating the patient to persevere with the treatment until all plaques have gone.


Modern medicine treats psoriasis with ultraviolet light, topical steroid creams, tar creams, and even anti-cancer drugs such as methotrexate. While these treatments may help in the short term, they can cause rebound reactions which are more severe than the initial attack, or in the case of topical steroids, cause immediate worsening if the psoriasis is currently very active.