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Zinc Pyrithione

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Zinc pyrithione is the active ingredient present in a variety of mainstream anti-dandruf shampoos such as Head and Shoulders, Tigi Bed Head Shampoo, Herbal Essences, Selsun Salon, Redken, Pantene Pro V and Biolage. Due to its anti-fungal and antibacterial nature, zinc pyrithione has been confirmed as an effective treatment for dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis.

Similar scalp treatments include chloroxine and selenium sulfide.

Zinc pyrithione also seems to slow the production of skin cells, which is one of the main symptoms of psoriasis.

Skin Cap (available through BeautyWorks.com) is one of the main products you can buy over the counter that offers therapeutic concentrations of zinc pyrithione for the purpose of treating psoriasis. It comes in the form of aerosol spray, shampoo and lotion. Recommended dosage is twice daily. Several sources report dramatic reductions in scaling, itchiness and inflammation within a few weeks of using this compound.

Zinc pyrithione is intended for topical use only.

Side effects of this product seem to be mild, but you should consult your dermatologist to make sure.

Posted in Psoriasis | 2 Responses »

Is Pine Tar an Effective Psoriasis Treatment?

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

The medicinal benefits of applying pine tar to skin that is affected with psoriasis are similar to coal tar. Like coal tar, pine tar has some anti-inflammatory properties and it tends to make skin more sensitive to sunlight.

One particular brand called Grandpa’s gives their pine tar shampoos and soaps some very old-school looking packaging. According to the website, pine tar soaps/shampoos help to remove psoriasis scales and have a unique cleaning quality.

The packaging for Grandpa’s pine tar shampoo/soap reminds me of something I’ve seen in old western movies. This design seems to pay homage to the fact that pine tar has been around since the 1800′s. This could bee a good thing since coal tar has been used for decades as a psoriasis treatment as well. Grandpa’s pine tar soap/shampoo also has vitamin E, which is commonly used as a topical treatment to ease psoriasis irritation and heal the skin.

Grandpa’s Pine tar Bath and Shower Gel

Pine tar is extracted from pine wood at very high temperatures in a sealed environment. The two bi-products of this procedure are pine tar and pine coal. Some people object to this product on the grounds that it kills trees.

When buying pine tar shampoo or soap be sure to check the ingredients to see if any of the additives worry you. Pine tar by itself hasn’t exactly been proven to cause cancer (like coal tar) but it is said to contain trace amounts of chemicals that are notoriously carcinogenic. In other words, as with coal tar, don’t overdo it and you’ll probably be fine.

Posted in Psoriasis | 1 Response »

Neutrogena’s Extra Strength T-Gel Psoriasis Shampoo — Product Review

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

t gel extra strength

Coal tar is T-Gel’s active ingredient. This particular version of T-Gel is called “Extra Strength” because it contains twice as much of coal tar than Neutrogena’s other T-Gel, “Original.” Extra strength T-Gel contains 1% refined coal tar (4% Neutar) and Original T-Gel has 0.5% coal tar (2% Neutar).

Neutar is Neutrogena’s new and improved variation of coal tar. Coal tar by itself, which is extracted from coal, has been used for decades to treat psoriasis. Neutar is a derivative of coal tar, with a whole less the stifling smell and dark color.

Notice the dark brown color of the T-Gel pictured above (this is the actual color of the shampoo). This color results from the thick, tar-like quality of coal tar. Original T-Gel has more of a brownish-orange color.

Whether or not you should use Extra Strength or Original T-Gel depends on your psoriasis (or seborrheic dermatitis, or the like). Start with Original if you’ve never used it before. Ideally you should to consult with your dermatologist to get authoritative answers about how to treat your psoriasis since every case is unique.

When you first use T-Gel you will notice right away what a deep, penetrating effect coal tar has on your scalp. In my case, the itchiness that had plagued me for so long went away immediately. For mild cases of psoriasis such as mine, T-Gel (Extra Strength for me) keeps the burning itchiness at bay for about 24 hours.

T-Gel (especially Extra Strength) is a one of the most effective psoriasis shampoos I have ever used. Neutrogena did a great job minimizing the smell (which can follow you around all day if you don’t rinse well enough) all the while making the shampoo as concentrated and effective as possible.

I have used Extra Strength T-Gel alternately with T-Sal to drive back the symptoms of psoriasis for years, right up until recently, when I discovered another variation of T-Gel — Stubborn Itch Control — which works better still.

Related: What is Coal Tar?

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T-Cells, Psoriasis and Cellular Warfare

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

T-Cells represent one regiment within the body’s greater immune system army (the white blood cell army). There are a variety of different functions of this army, including communication, massive self-reproduction and, of course, ruthlessly destroying all hostiles.

Within the T-Cell regiment there are different roles including “Killers” and “Helpers.”

In effect, psoriasis inspires T-Cell regiments to make war indefinitely, producing too many helper T-Cells (TH-Cells) for no good reason, thus causing swelling and excessive skin production. To be more specific, T-Cells are making war because of false intelligence reports produced and handed over by rogue antigens. Thus, more T-Cells of all kinds are called into battle, escalating a conflict that shouldn’t be happening in the first place, ultimately resulting in unhealthy swelling, pain and excessive skin cell production.

As a casual observation, I suspect that Neutrogena’s T-Gel and T-Sal shampoos are thus named because of the medicinal effect they have on psoriasis, which is a T-Cell centric disease.

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