Occlusion, Reader Comments
Reader comments about my page on the use of occlusion for psoriasis.
DS writes (May 1, 2003):
lots of great info there, dave! i’ve been looking for something to help with my psoriasis for a while now, but i really want something OTC. i don’t like pills, creams, ointments, shots, etc. though. (none of them seem to ‘fix’ anything, they just make it a little better for a little while.) i decided to try duct tape after reading one post somewhere on the ’net where someone tried it and it seemed to be working okay for them. have you, or do you know of anyone who has tried using duct tape as a treatment? i started my ‘test’ upon myself a week and a half ago.
so far, things are looking really good. i have a patch of psoriasis on my right thigh about 2 or 3 inches in diameter. this, i decided, would be my test patch. i applied the tape over the area on a sunday night. this stuff makes your skin itch a little, but i think it’s probably just the plaque coming off or something. after 6 days, i removed the tape and WOW! all of the plaque was gone! what’s even more important to me is that it appears that the skin may be trying to heal itself underneath the tape.
on my skin, patches of psoriasis tend to be thicker than the surrounding skin. i’m guessing it’s just a buildup of some sort all the way thru the skin, i dunno, tho. anyway, the skin is almost the same thickness as the surrounding skin while pinching it to measure. this, to me is good news.
on tuesday evening, after 1 week and 2 days of 24 hours of duct tape coverage, i took the tape off, i should mention that i’ve changed it a time or 2 in between. i left it off for 2 days, until this morning, and no plaque formed back. the skin was still a little dry, and it appears that i’ve got some scar tissue there, perhaps from the psoriasis, but things are looking good. i’ve re-applied the duct tape today and will leave it there for a few days and check it again, etc.
anyway, i’ve just been wondering if anyone has done this, acheived similiar results, and what’s their outcome? it appears to be working fine for me, right now, but who knows what’ll happen in a couple of months. i looked on your site, but didn’t see any mention of duct tape, anywhere.
thanks
lots of great info there, dave! i’ve been looking for something to help with my psoriasis for a while now, but i really want something OTC. i don’t like pills, creams, ointments, shots, etc. though. (none of them seem to ‘fix’ anything, they just make it a little better for a little while.) i decided to try duct tape after reading one post somewhere on the ’net where someone tried it and it seemed to be working okay for them. have you, or do you know of anyone who has tried using duct tape as a treatment? i started my ‘test’ upon myself a week and a half ago.
so far, things are looking really good. i have a patch of psoriasis on my right thigh about 2 or 3 inches in diameter. this, i decided, would be my test patch. i applied the tape over the area on a sunday night. this stuff makes your skin itch a little, but i think it’s probably just the plaque coming off or something. after 6 days, i removed the tape and WOW! all of the plaque was gone! what’s even more important to me is that it appears that the skin may be trying to heal itself underneath the tape.
on my skin, patches of psoriasis tend to be thicker than the surrounding skin. i’m guessing it’s just a buildup of some sort all the way thru the skin, i dunno, tho. anyway, the skin is almost the same thickness as the surrounding skin while pinching it to measure. this, to me is good news.
on tuesday evening, after 1 week and 2 days of 24 hours of duct tape coverage, i took the tape off, i should mention that i’ve changed it a time or 2 in between. i left it off for 2 days, until this morning, and no plaque formed back. the skin was still a little dry, and it appears that i’ve got some scar tissue there, perhaps from the psoriasis, but things are looking good. i’ve re-applied the duct tape today and will leave it there for a few days and check it again, etc.
anyway, i’ve just been wondering if anyone has done this, acheived similiar results, and what’s their outcome? it appears to be working fine for me, right now, but who knows what’ll happen in a couple of months. i looked on your site, but didn’t see any mention of duct tape, anywhere.
thanks
Dave Replies: Well, duct tape is now mentioned on my web site.
In my opinion, this “duct tape treatment” is nothing but a form of occlusion, or covering on the skin. There’s plenty of evidence that doing that, and nothing more, can help reduce psoriasis symptoms under the covered area (for how long, or how well, it’ll do so isn’t particularly well-measured right now). In other words, I don’t think there’s anything special about duct tape in particular — any sort of skin covering can work to some degree or other.
A small caveat to the duct tape treatment is to be aware of “tape reactions,” which are a form of contact dermatitis in response to chemicals in the glue. It’s possible to create an occlusive dressing without tape, of course (and it might be more comfortable). For a large plaque on the lower leg, for example, one could put plastic wrap all the way around the leg, and then tape it to itself.
Note also that people with circulatory problems need to speak with their doctors before attempting anything like wrapping an entire limb. And nobody should occlude their whole face, ever!
Hope the clearing continues! Best of luck to you!