You may have it or heard about someone else who has it. Yes, it is psoriasis and 7.5 million people in the US suffer from this painful disease. Some of you have accepted it and are living with it. The psoriasis has spread enough for some of you, that it makes you conscious and that self-consciousness is affecting your self-esteem and in some cases, drawing you back from everything, creating stress in your life and taking a toll on your immune system. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease and a declined immune system will make psoriasis worse. For those who are on steroids for a long period of time, when you stop working and you stop the steroids, you end up with steroid withdrawal syndrome and make your life miserable.
Even though there are so many breakthroughs and medications available now, there is no single complete cure available due to the complex nature of psoriasis. You can see your doctor and get the psoriasis prescription but if you can complement some alternative therapies, it can help relieve some of the severity. Most psoriasis suffers usually scratch the area because of dryness and itching, thereby making the area bleed.
Three decades ago, Brian Jegasothy MD, formally chairman, Department of Dermatology, University of Pittsburg, USA and myself had developed Hylunia’s Healing & Restoring Cream and Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème formula for Psoriasis and Eczema skin using the hydration and healing properties of Hyaluronic Acid. Hyaluronic Acid is a major component of the skin, where it is involved in tissue repair. The skin provides a mechanical barrier to the external environment and acts to prevent the ingress of infectious agents. Once injured, the tissues beneath are exposed to infection; therefore, rapid and effective healing is of crucial significance to reconstruct a barrier function. While found naturally throughout our body, Hyaluronic Acid – unfortunately – has a short shelf life and is naturally broken down and flushed out of the body in one to three days. For this reason, it is imperative that the body continually replenishes itself with hyaluronic acid. Application of Hylunia’s Healing and Restoring Cream and Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème daily as many times needed helps in hydration and healing of the skin and minimizes itching.
According to Brian Jegasothy, “Hyaluronic acid is possibly the most effective topical humectants currently available – more effective in its water retention properties than glycerin, sorbitol, collagen etc. In addition, its ability to associate with lipids in skin surface membranes greatly enhances its ability to deliver its retained water and enriches its property by reducing transepidermal water loss”. For the past 30+ years, Hylunia’s Healing and Restoring Cream and Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème has so much relief by hydrating, repairing and minimizing itching due to psoriasis and eczema. Furthermore, from our experience in postoperative and laser care, we have found that applying a layer of pure hyaluronic acid serum before applying the Healing and Restoring Cream or Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème helps to super hydrate and provides the oxygen dissolved in the water of hyaluronic acid for continual repairing of psoriasis skin. The pure hyaluronic serum is available in Hylunia’s Hyaluronic Moisturizer or Hymed’s Pure Hyaluronic Acid.
Hylunia’s Healing and Restoring Cream and Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème gave so much relief to so many helpless clients, that last year the company formulated the doctor’s exclusive Hymed’s Reconstructive Crème especially for psoriasis and eczema patients and are going to make it available to the public. The new formulation contains calendula, beta-glucan from oats, and Turmeric in addition to hyaluronic acid. The information on the benefits of calendula, beta-glucan and turmeric are given below.
PRESERVATIVES, FRAGRANCES AND INFLAMMATORY INGREDIENTS
Any skin care product used for psoriasis should be free of irritants such as fragrances and preservatives. Studies have shown that fragrances and preservatives contribute to more than 50% of irritation of the skin and continual irritation of the wounded psoriasis skin can cause irreversible damage. Hylunia and Hymed do not use any preservatives and artificial fragrances but use a combination of non-preservatives, thereby minimizing irritation and inflammation. Therefore, even the cleanser or body wash you use should be free of preservatives.
Hylunia has a non-scented and preservative-free Body Wash and Hymed has a Gentle Cleanser for cleaning the psoriasis skin.
STRESS AND IMMUNE SYSTEM
As we all know, psoriasis is an autoimmune disease and the immune system becomes weak due to the stress created by your self-consciousness, how you feel about yourself and the worst case scenario mind response. There are alternative therapies to reduce stress and to reaffirm the mind to minimize stress. I have been telling everyone I work with that the key to reducing stress lies in “how you look at things”. We have stress release massage and guided meditation at Hylunia Wellness MD Spa in Orange County, CA to help people with psoriasis.
EATING HABITS
Even though I believe that everyone should eat what they live, it is advisable that you minimize eating hormone-rich and antibiotic-fed red meat and white meat. Eat everything in moderation and I do not ask you to completely stop everything. You can cut down your red meat and eat grass-fed meat, free-range chicken, fish, and eggs. Eat and drink organic and include salads and vegetables in your meals. Your body produces toxins and needs to be detoxed. Drinking golden milk and including turmeric in all your food and smoothies can minimize inflammation due to stress and toxins in your body. Also, including ginger, garlic, fennel, and coriander in your cooking can help in minimizing inflammation.
The psoriasis skin needs constant healing and Vitamin A is important in healing. Including baby carrots in your salad and as a snack and carrots in cooking or drinking carrot juice are an excellent source of Vitamin A for healing psoriasis. Also, it’s good to take Vitamin C 500 mg, 3 times a day as it is good for your immune system and promotes collagen synthesis.
Eating fibers, both soluble fibers (such as oatmeal) and insoluble fibers are important for your bowel movement, as otherwise, constipation produces toxins which hinder healing of the psoriasis skin.
Taking psyllium, flax seeds and chia seeds with your juices, smoothies, and teas can help smoothen bowel movements.
If you like seaweed, eat Spirulina to detox your body.
DETOXIFICATION.
The last but not the least is the toxins produced in your body. Toxins are produced in your body as a byproduct of metabolism and from medication. Also, toxins accumulate in your body outside the cells, in blood, lymph, intestine, and liver. The immune system response is decreased with above normal toxins in the body. Detoxification of the body is important for those with psoriasis, especially those taking steroids and other medication as well as using topical lotions and creams. Traditional food and herbal detoxification will not completely remove the toxins from all the cells in the body.
Hylunia has developed a complete and comprehensive ionic – cellular detoxification system that can completely remove most of the toxins tested over the past 15 years. Hylunia Wellness MD Spa is providing detox services as well as a 21-day “Beyond Panchakarma” (5 cleansing steps and rejuvenation) program for those who are suffering from severe psoriasis and other alignments.
Ingredient Information.
Hyaluronic Acid (Hylunia and Hymed is a vegan company and the Hyaluronic acid used is derived from Plant sources).
Clinical studies have shown ( Ref;1 & 2) that radiated wounds heal quicker with Hyaluronic Acid. Holding 1000 times its weight in water, Hyaluronic Acid effectively binds water to cells and is responsible for the elasticity and resilience of the skin. According to Dr. Brian Jegasothy, M.D., former Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh: “Hyaluronic Acid is possibly the most effective topical humectants currently available: more effective in its water retention properties than glycerin, sorbitol, collagen etc. In addition, its ability to associate with lipids in skin surface membranes greatly enhances its ability to deliver its retained water and enriches its property by reducing the transepidermal water loss”.
Since 1988, Hylunia– Hymed has worked on the healing properties of hyaluronic acid and based the entire skin care product lines around the proven healing and hydrating properties of Hyaluronic Acid.
Ref 1: Healing of Hyaluronic Acid enriched wounds: Histological Observation.
G.Abatangelo; M. Martelli and P. Vecchia; University of Padua, Italy
Ref 2: Double-blinded, randomized clinical study comparing Hyaluronic acid cream to placebo in patients treated with radiotherapy
Radiother Oncol 1997 Feb; 42(2): 155061 ( ISSN: 0167-8140). Liguori V; Guillemin C; Pesce GF; Mirimanoff R O; Bernier J. Dept of Radio-Oncology, Ospedale San Giovanni, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Calendula
Calendula, also known as Marigold, is used in Europe for centuries for herbal remedy well known for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Calendula extract is rich in beta-carotene, stearin, triterpenoids, flavonoids, and coumarin, as well as microelements. For this reason, Calendula is known for its powerful wound-healing and skin-soothing properties. It is usually used externally for it’s antiseptic and healing properties in treating skin infections, cuts, punctures, scrapes, burns and chapped or chafed skin. Less commonly, it is used internally to heal inflamed and infected mucous membranes.
Beta Glucan
Beta-glucan extracted from oats and other sources can communicate with the immune system and can stimulate the macrophages which ingest and destroys pathogens. Macrophages releases cytokines which communicate with other immune cells. Furthermore, beta glucan stimulates the white blood cells to viruses and tumors and releases chemicals to destroy them. Beta-glucan acts anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. University of Alberta ( Canada) studies have shown that beta-glucan can help in wound healing and reduction in scaring.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is an ivory-colored natural emollient extracted from the nut of the African shea tree by crushing, boiling and stirring. It is widely used in skin care as a moisturizer.
African healers and beauties have known about shea butter for thousands of years: the substance is almost magical in its healing effects on burns, skin conditions, ulcerated skin, stretch marks, and dryness. It contains beneficial vegetable emollient that promotes cell regeneration and circulation, making it a wonderful healer and rejuvenator for troubled or aging skin. It also contains natural sun-protectants.
Shea butter is sometimes called “women’s gold” because extracting the butter from the nuts gives employment and income to hundreds of thousands of rural African village women. Hylunia- Hymed is a Fair Trade Company and import Shea butter from Ghana.
Turmeric
Turmeric is an herbaceous perennial plant native to South Asia and has been used in that part of the world for thousands of years. Turmeric paste is traditionally used by women in South Asia as an antimicrobial and an anti-aging agent. Turmeric also figures prominently in the bridal beautification ceremonies of the Indian sub-continent. It is also used in the formulation of some sunscreens.
Turmeric’s Benefits for Skin
Turmeric is well known for its anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and antibacterial properties and is presently being studied in cancer research. This bio-protectant neutralizes free radicals and ultra violet radiation (UV) damage. Gentle treatment of the turmeric removes the typical yellow color, so that a high percentage of turmeric can be incorporated into our products without staining the skin or compromising efficacy.
Hymed’s Preservation System
The Reconstructive Crema is preserved with a combination of Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Neem extract and organic Citrus extracts.
A five-year study of cosmetic reactions.
Adams RM, Maibach HI.
During 64 months (1977 to 1983), twelve dermatologists from various sections of theUnited States studied a total of 713 patients with cosmetic dermatitis out of an estimated total of 13,216 patients with contact dermatitis. The number of patients seen for all causesduring this period was 281,100. An important finding was that half of the patients or physicians were unaware that a cosmetic was responsible for their dermatitis. Skin careproducts, hair preparations (including colors), and facial makeup were responsible for the majority of the reactions. The most important objective was identification of causativeingredients. Eighty-seven percent of the subjects had patch tests. Fragrance, preservatives (Quaternium-15, formaldehyde, imidazolidinyl urea, and parabens), p-phenylenediamine,and glyceryl monothioglycolate were the most frequently identified allergic sensitizers, in that order. In addition to the clinical data, the study permitted assessment of thefrequency of cosmetic reactions, although the data may not be entirely representative ofthe country at large because of the special interests of the dermatologists involved.
PMID: 4078100 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
