best medicine for facial psoriasis?

[bgaviator]

Could someone tell me what is currently the best medecine cremes for psoriasis of the face? I get patches quite frequently on my chin, around my eyebrows, and my ears. I used to use Hydrocortisone Valerate creme with great success, but my new derm hasn't prescribed that to me. Is there anything over-the-counter I could be using as well?

[Jillian1507]

Sorry to hear that you have p on your face - I do to, mostly around my hairline, forehead, eyes, and corners of my lips. I find that protopic (which you'll need a rx for) has worked well. Beware though, that I believe that there is still a black box label on it, which means there may be cases that it had caused cancer. Many people on the boards use it. I definitely don't use it for my body, but for my face, I do. It's embarrassing to walk around with scaley red eyes and red patched on my forehead. It just stinks.

Good luck!

[sergecosta]

If you had good success with hydrocortisone valerate, I would press your doctor to give your the prescription. I have sebopsoriasis which mainly affects my scalp, but also my ears, forehead, hairline, and nasolabial folds. It has been under great control ever since I used Protopic alone. Great remission stretches and to use on your face. But some doctors have difficulty in prescribing because it is expensive and some insurances require prior authorization and paperwork.

There are black box warnings for both Protopic and Elidel -- both non-steroidal, topical immunomodulators. There are concerns about its capacity to bring on the onset of cancer. However, I have read that the methodology and the research that was done (on animals) to arrive at those findings are questionable. The subjects were exposed to extraordinarily high doses of the drug.

Protopic, no fooling, has been my miracle drug for my facial psoriasis which is virtually non-existent these days. I should also say that I have tried Dovonex cream for my hairline (which I am sure flared my psoriasis and brought about facial psoriasis even in places I did not apply it) and I tried Tazorac. Both very problematic or harsh for the face, in my experience. I won't touch those again.

Best of luck
Serge

[sergecosta]

Ya know, when I first was diagnosed with psoriasis in 1992, I remember reading that psoriasis rarely occured on the face. In fact, that information alone made me deal with my psoriasis elsewhere relatively well....until I actually got it on my face. I am glad to know I am not the only who has it, but I am in awe at how common it seems to be.

[Beegs]

The only things that have really worked for my face are:

1) Greasy tar ointment!! (MG217 2%) Smells awful and is greasy, but REALLY works to clear up the red spots on my forehead, eyebrows, and sides of my nose. I use it at night whether I have an outbreak or not -- 1% cortisone does nothing for me and I am terrified of putting steroids on my face anyway...

2) sunlight... actually even sunBURN (not recommended but works). I recently went for a long walk and the next day my forehead was itchy like crazy and really red. I put ice on it, and then it looked like rosacea for about 24 hours. After that, the p on my face was totally gone and has been smooth for 2 weeks! Wish I could say the same for my scalp...

I got an Enbrel prescription today and am hopeful that it will help me.