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Effective Psoriasis Treatments: Keratolytics

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Keratolytics are topical treatments that soften skin and remove dead skin or scales.  The word “keratolytics” is derived from the word “keratin,” which is a major component of the skin as well as durable tissues such as hair or nails.  A common keratolytic used for psoriasis is salicylic acid, which is present in Neutrogena’s T/Sal shampoo.

Keratolytics can be used to complement other psoriatic medications.  For example, after salicylic acid clears off dead skin from the epidermis, then another treatment such as a coal tar or a topical retinoid will be able to access treatable skin more easily.

Other keratolytics include:

  • Urea - The active ingredient for Nair (a common hair removal product).  Urea can irritate the skin, cause additional itchiness and can be toxic if applied too liberally.
  • Propylene glycol - A moisturizer and solvent, used in everything from anti-freeze to massage oils.  There are opposing views as to whether prolonged exposure to propylene glycol causes bodily harm.
  • Sulfur - An ingredient found in dandruff, acne and seborrheic dermatitis treatments.  Sulfur solutions can be administered in combination with a long list of other chemicals and treatments to treat psoriasis.
  • Resorcinol - Used for both psoriasis and acne to soften and/or loosen up hardened skin.  Resorcinol can be used as an anti-itching agent as well as an antiseptic.
  • Cade oil - Can be mixed with salicylic acid and other antifungal elements to make effective keratolytics / anti-dandruff medications.

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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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How Does Salicylic Acid Work as a Psoriasis Treatment?

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

All of my interaction with salicylic acid has been through Neutrogena’s T-Sal psoriasis shampoo.  I have found that my scalp tends to feel a lot better when I intersperse this shampoo with my usually coal tar / standard shampoo rotation.

Salicylic acid doesn’t treat psoriasis directly so much as it cleanses skin that is affected by psoriasis.  Besides scalp shampoos, salicylic acid is used widely as an exfoliant.   The fact that it is the active ingredient for “warming” facewashes should ring a bell — it is the acidic quality of this compound that deep cleans the skin and clears off all that dead skin and dirt build up.  It also deep cleans and disinfects pores.  It can also be used as an anti-dandruff medication.

Salicylic acid acts as a helping hand for other treatments that have a more direct effect on the psoriasis itself, such as coal tar and other chemical compounds that are continually being developed (Neutrogena’s variation on coal tar, for example, is ‘Neutar’).  After it clears out dead skin build-up, then other medications can have more of a direct access to affect skin cells.

I tend to think that coal tar itself (via shampoos such as Neutrogena’s T-Gel) creates a build-up on my scalp.  This is my hypothesis / observation, partially based on the fact that coal tar is a derivative of a fossil fuel and fossil fuels are inherently dirty.   Also, when I use T-Sal, this residual build-up feeling that develops over time as I use coal tar shampoos goes away immediately — at such times it feels like my scalp can breath freely again.

I would like to verify this suspicion with a dermatologist one of these days.

In any case, I prefer to mix salicylic shampoo into my topical treatment rotation to keep the psoriasis guessing, clean off any residual dead skin on my scalp and to make sure my skin isn’t getting too accustomed to coal tar treatment (and thus immune) which seems to be possible over time judging by my own experience.

I’ll have to ask a dermatologist one of these days whether or not this coal tar build-up hypothesis is true as well.

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