Sun Beds - Do they help?

[Flaky pete]

Hey all,

I am new on this forum - and to be honest my psoriasis may not be as bad as some on here.

I have had it since i was a kid (13 or so) and am now touching 30. when I was 22 I had some light treatment which really helped and cleared it for almost a year.

However in the last 3 years I have had narrow band light treatment and it didnt have any effect.

One of my mates also has psoriasis and he has found that using sunbeds helps to control it as well as dovobet.

Have any of you guys got any positive stories about their effect on psoriasis?

Any feed back would be grately appreciated.

[*Daisy*]

A few years ago i got the PUVA treatment at Dermatology and my skin cleared completely, however you can only have the treatment for a couple of months and as soon as it stopped the psoriasis came back again.  I dont think its worth the risk of skin cancers to use an ordinary sunbed on a regular basis so..

[Flaky pete]

The thing is daisy, I am quite dark skinned so the skin cancer risk is a lot lower for me.

I spoke to my GP about it and he said it would be OK - the only thing I wiorry about is that the GP is pretty lame. In fact the whole NHS is pretty lame at helping me deal with this.

I am trying to guage whether the use of sunbeds in general has helped other peeps with the same affliction. I dont want to waste my time going to the tanning salon - for one it just looks ridiculous, I am a dark skinned bloke going into a tanning salon, the other punters must think I am mad.

[rachbar]

Can only say I'm on my second sunbed, just started a session.

I did them for the first time in March and they nearly cleared my skin, was able to go abroad for the first time and not moan about embarrassment.

I go on for the least amt of time the salon gives, the current salon allows 4 mins.

Be careful using Dovenex/bet while on the beds as these can enhance photosensitivity.  IE you'll burn, dark skin or not

[millyjayne]

well they can help in some ways but they arnt good for u they dry ur skin and u could get skin cancer from useing a sun bed offten but i dont know alot about it so dont listen to alot that i say

[david_8]

hi, Pete & welcome

we all different peps &  skin types & types of p

if uva works for you, and you are aware of the risks  why not go for it

? even some of  the  energy saving lights have risks and can exacerbate p


? what was the light treatment  that worked for you

? you could try uva at  a tanning saloon and see if it helps
then by a  uva up/over  cheap of ebay etc, try polytar bath  etc before hand

had  hospital uva etc  aged 8+ and it worked well but soon got tolerant to it
my parents moved to Spain for me but with in a yr got tolerant to sun&sea

Ive had all the  hospital joules allowed, but have a home unit with narrow band uvb
and apply dovobet beforehand, helps clear my p a little  

there loads of posts  on uva/ uvb/ puva/ puvb/ well worth a search & read

[jjoblogs1]

 
the only thing with sunbeds or home u.v.b units is,
monitor yourself,strictly,i use sunbeds if needed in the winter months,
or at times when there is prolonged days of no sunshine,

buyer beware/user beware,all these cases,
are there to stop people in case they overdo it,(not just for p peeps)
self monitoring is the thing,which for p peeps and others is pretty much the norm,

anyhoo if in the u,k,

the sunbed association

http://www.sunbedassociation.org.uk/vitamind.php 

and u,v talk

http://uvtalk.com/forum/uv-your-health/9938-15-minutes-rays-best-source-vitamin-d.html

as someone as pointed out ,polytar before use helps,etc etc,
beware and some commercial sites have not trained staff properly according to guidelinesits a bit like flying,it is dangerous to fly,but we still fly,drive cars etc etc,

the secret is know your skin type ,dont burn!!,skin types should? be on both links,

p.S to answer the question,in my case of plack p yes they do help.....................................

[millyjayne]

all uva and uvb light isnt very good for u but it can help ur p

[jan45]

Hi,
like david_8 says we are all different. For me sunbeds don't work, yet the sun does. I think you can only try for yourself to see.

[Ria2410]

Hiya

Well for me they do help but saying that they aren't good for you. I had a spray tan about a month ago and what was strange was I had a really bad patch of P from my elbow to my wrist and after about two days the fake tan was lifting and it took all the P off my arm and with cream its stayed away for over a month rather strange.  It did have Aloe Vera in it so whether that helped I don't know shame I couldn't have had it on my scalp  thats where I suffer most.

Riaxxxx