Psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema

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UVB phototherapy

 

The biggest advantages of 311 nm UVB-phototherapy are that it does not have any serious side-effects, it does not damage the internal organs, and by reducing skin symptoms and making the condition of the patient entirely asymptomatic it helps to decrease the physical and mental stress on the patients. It works in 80% of the cases. The advantage of treatment with narrow band UVB-light compared to other methods is the improvement of the therapeutic effect and the decrease of side-effects.

The skin diseases treated by UVB-light are not curable, but they can be made asymptomatic: symptoms decrease or disappear completely, but they can recur again with different intensity. We recommend maintenance treatments after the series of treatment is finished to avoid a relapse.

Treatment with UVB light, besides being perfectly safe and highly effective, is also convenient, since it only takes between 10 seconds to 8 minutes. This means that patients do not have to wait. The dermatologist determines the length and timing of the radiations and checks if the treatments have been successful. If you have any complaints concerning the treatment, you can turn to the doctor.

The skin gets used to UVB-rays gradually, so the duration of the treatments is increased slowly. The number of treatments required to achieve an asymptomatic condition depends on the skin type and on how the skin reacts to UVB.

Based on the experiences so far for the improvement of the symptoms of psoriasis andeczema, the patient needs three treatments a week and at least 10 occasions with no break in between. If a patient has vitiligo, an average 20 consecutive treatments are needed to start the re-pigmentation. Only this will bring the required results. If you skip an occasion, the duration of the next treatment cannot be increased. If a patient misses more than one treatment, they have to start again with the shortest treatment duration. Extended treatments or their interruption may decrease effectiveness.

Within 4-8 hours after the treatment – depending on individual sensitivity–redness can appear. This may last up to max. 24 hours. Redness can be treated with a skin cream prescribed by the dermatologist.

Moisturising cream is recommended for psoriasis between the treatments. Our dermatologist can give you a recommendation on request. The treatment does not affect the sexual potency of men.

 

Research about narrow-band, 311 nm UVB-phototherapy studied the frequency of tumour diseases in patients who had been treated for several decades, and they found that compared to patients not receiving the treatment the chance of getting these diseases is the same and not higher! This is why it is important to always follow the treatment plan prescribed by the dermatologist.

 

The following information is included on the website of the National Psoriasis Foundation of America: “UVB is an established carcinogen (cancer-causing substance or agent) in humans. However, there is no direct evidence of increased risk of skin cancer from UVB treatment for psoriasis. It is important to have a doctor examine your skin periodically.”

 

Based on the studies published on the website of the American Academy of Dermatology, it was pointed out that: “Risks of skin cancer appear to be no greater than those caused by sun exposure.”

 

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a non-contagious, chronic and still incurable skin disease that affects almost 2% of the population. The symptoms can be treated effectively in most cases.
Psoriasis develops when skin cells (keratinocytes) regenerate too fast due to false signals from the immune system, replacing themselves every 3-4 days instead of the usual 28-30 days. These redundant skin cells cause red, scaly, inflamed rashes on the skin (typically they appear on the scalp, the flexural surfaces of the skin, elbow, knees, nails). The rashes are itchy, may bleed, and can be very painful.

The symptoms of the different types of psoriasis:

  • Plaque psoriasis (75-80% of the cases): This type is characterized by thickened red skin areas covered by white-silvery scales. It usually appears on the knees, elbows, scalp, behind the ears, the sacrum and navel, between the buttocks and around the genitals.

  • Guttate psoriasis (15-20% of the cases): Characterized by drop-shaped, thin scales of different size, most of which are found on the torso and sometimes on the face.

  • Pustular psoriasis (2% of the cases): Usually occurs on older patients. It develops as a new disease or as the relapse of plaque psoriasis. Characterized by reddened skin on the back of the hands and soles.

  • Erythrodermic psoriasis (1-2% of the cases): usually characterized by inflamed spots causing redness on almost the entire body.

 

Psoriasis of the scalp (50% of the cases): A type of plaque psoriasis. Inverse psoriasis: usually occurs on the flexural surfaces of the body, wrinkles (e.g., armpits, loin, on the flexural surfaces of the skin of severely obese people). The rashes are usually flat surfaced and red, but not scaly.

 

Vitiligo

 

 

Depigmentation or vitiligo is an incurable skin disorder affecting 1% of the world’s population. It is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body destroys its own tissue. In certain cases it is caused by the disorders of the thyroid gland or the adrenal glands.


Vitiligo is an incurable disease, but it can be made asymptomatic: symptoms can entirely or partially disappear but may come back with different intensity. We recommend maintenance treatment to avoid a relapse.

 

On certain areas of the skin depigmented, sharp-contoured, white spots appear due to the lack of melanocytes (melanin-producing cells), or because they do not produce any pigments. White spots are most likely to appear symmetrically on the limbs or around the orifices, but they may affect more than 50% of the entire body. Affected areas have no protection whatsoever against light, which means that even the slightest amount of sunlight can cause inflammation and blisters. (Not every white spot is vitiligo!)


As a result of UVB-therapy, small pigmented areas appear on the white spots and in more than two-thirds of the cases repigmentation is more than 75 %.


Experts from the 2004 American Academy of Dermatology Congress, where UVB-phototherapy was recommended as the number one treatment for those cases when more than 15-20% of the body is affected: “Narrowband UVB has become my treatment of choice for patients with moderate to severe vitiligo, defined as having more than 15 to 20 percent body surface area involvement”.


From the studies published on the website of the leading dermatologist’s magazine, American Dermatology Times and the American Academy of Dermatology:
The following research in 2003 considered successful only those cases that showed a minimum of 50% (!) repigmentation: “Treatment response, defined as >50 percent repigmentation, was achieved in 25 (42 percent) of the 60 patients with 20 patients (33 percent) achieving >75 percent repigmentation.”


The average appearance of repigmentation on the body: on lower limbs an average 42%, on the torso an average 40%, on the upper limbs an average 28%.
“After completing an average of 19 treatments with NB-UVB phototherapy, five of the seven vitiligo patients that participated in the study showed greater than 75 percent repigmentation.”
Unfortunately, in the case of vitiligo a greater than 25-30% repigmentation happens very rarely on the soles and the back of the hands. “Lesions of the hands and feet rarely repigmented more than 25 percent.”

 

Eczema

 

Environmental factors (such as soap, dust, the faeces of the dust mite, allergens entering the body with food or through the respiratory tracts, detergents) may affect the possibility of developing eczema, just like the periodic outbreak of the disease. External factors may not be the only cause of atopic dermatitis, since the same chemical does not cause symptoms for everybody; it depends on the immune system and mental condition of the patient whether the disease (disposition) develops. For example, the immune system of the body deteriorates when exposed to severe stress.

 

Eczema can be made asymptomatic: skin symptoms decrease or disappear entirely, but they can break out again with different intensity. We recommend maintenance treatment to avoid a relapse

 

Eczema is one of the most common diseases, 10% of the world’s population suffers from one of its types. Different substances may cause inflammation by irritation (toxic-irritative dermatitis) or allergic reaction (allergic contact dermatitis).

 

In the case of toxic irritative dermatitis, an irritative substance causes an acute inflammation on the skin (chemicals, cosmetics): the skin turns a vigorous red, its feel becomes warm and tight, its surface shiny. In cases of severe inflammation, blisters appear, the lesions weep, skin becomes scaly, accompanied by a burning, itchy sensation.

 

In the case of an allergic reaction, contact with a certain substance (sometimes even the first few occasions) does not cause the skin to react, but on the next occasion it may lead to itching and inflammation within 4-24 hours. The severity of the symptoms may vary; they may range from slight redness to blistery, swollen skin. The disease first appears on the area where the allergen touched the skin, but later it may spread to other parts of the body. The body does not “forget” the allergy for years.

 

 

Prices

Consultation
Control*
1 UVB treatment
hands/feet/scalp
10 treatments or monthly fee
hands/feet/scalp
1 UVB treatment
full body
10 UVB treatments or monthly fee
full body
Price
30.000 HUF
free of charge
3.000 HUF
27.000 HUF
4.000 HUF
36.000 HUF

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