How important are convenience factors in your treatment choice?
For example, a fairly standard course of narrowband UV light treatments for psoriasis could require three visits per week to a medical office for six to 12 weeks, while there are biologics that, once started, require as few as four injections per year. Other patients take pills one day a Continue Reading…
Do you have a strong preference for how a treatment is administered?
The primary treatments for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are either pills, brief injections under the skin (either done by you, a loved one, or by a health care provider in a medical setting), standing in front of special ultraviolet lights at home or in a medical Continue Reading…
Is your body weight on the larger side and/or are you obese? Or are you on the smaller side?
Some treatments are dosed differently for larger people, so if you are a larger person, you might want to try one of those options as there is evidence that it can improve treatment response for those individuals. Similarly, some treatments have smaller dosing available, which might be enough to work Continue Reading…
Do you have psoriasis in certain body areas that is particularly distressing to you?
Psoriasis treatments are increasingly being studied in specific parts of the body, giving health care practitioners evidence-based help in selecting a particular treatment for a particular patient. For example, the effectiveness of certain treatments on psoriasis of the scalp, hands, feet, nails, and/or genital area have been specifically documented in Continue Reading…
How do you define effectiveness?
Do you have specific effectiveness measures that are most important to you? This could be how quickly a treatment provides substantial relief, how thoroughly it ultimately clears the skin and/or reduces or eliminates joint pain, or how many years the improvement has been shown it can be maintained (since psoriasis Continue Reading…
What is your level of concern about side effects, or your risk tolerance?
This can be hard to quantify, but the various treatments have different potential side effects, different rates of serious and non-serious side effects, have been on the market for different numbers of years, and have been used by different numbers of people. Some people care a great deal about these Continue Reading…
How will you pay for treatment?
Many of these treatments are very expensive. Do you have insurance (private, Medicare, Medicaid, VA/TRICARE)? Does your insurer put any roadblocks in the way of your obtaining the treatment your physician has prescribed? (This is sometimes called “step therapy” or “fail-first”?) Have you looked into programs available to help commercially-insured Continue Reading…
Do you have other significant health issues?
Your cancer history, the health of your heart, kidneys, and liver, your cholesterol levels; these are some of the issues that could impact your treatment selection. Do you or a close relative have inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis)? Some psoriasis treatments are FDA-approved also for these diseases, Continue Reading…
What is your age?
There are a few U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatments for minors with moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, and others only approved for adults can be prescribed for children “off label” by doctors, based on what the medical community has learned and the needs of a Continue Reading…
Are you female?
Selecting an appropriate treatment option can be trickier for pregnant women, women of child-bearing potential, and nursing mothers.
