Nail pitting psoriasis treatment

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that can appear at any age and be located on different parts of the body, especially in very specific areas such as the nails. If the appearance of your nails changes, if they are eroded or—conversely—thicker, riddled with small holes (nail pitting), or showing red, orange, whitish, or brownish marks, or if they seem to want to detach from the nail plate, you are certainly suffering from nail psoriasis and should consult a doctor without waiting any longer.

The disease usually starts by affecting a single nail but can spread until it affects all the finger- or toenails. There is also a good chance that you have other skin lesions, as the percentage of afflicted people who only have nail psoriasis is very low.

If you are affected, regardless of the degree of severity of the disease, it is absolutely necessary that you receive an appropriate nail pitting treatment. Foot and nail psoriasis usually requires a long treatment that lasts from six months to a year, as the nail needs to completely regrow for the problem to disappear.

Generally speaking, to treat psoriasis, a local treatment is prescribed by the podiatrist. This is most often a cortisone or vitamin D cream that is applied daily or even several times per day. In the most serious cases, the podiatrist may prescribe pills or even injections. In addition to the treatment, they will make recommendations to follow to avoid aggravating the visible lesions, such as using a gentle soap for the skin and nails or hydrating your feet regularly with an ointment or cream.