Although psoriasis cannot be cured permanently, many treatments are available to help manage symptoms and reduce its effects on life.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease. There are treatments that can help manage symptoms and lower your risk of complications. But once you develop psoriasis, it may never go away completely.

This article will explain current treatments for psoriasis, as well as how the condition can affect your overall life expectancy and quality of life.

Psoriasis is a lifelong condition that does not have a cure.

Many treatments exist for the different types of psoriasis. However, you may need to try a few to see what gives you the best results.

Treatment may help prevent and shorten relapses of disease activity and lengthen the time when your symptoms are mild or absent. Some people with severe psoriasis may have a treatment plan that combines multiple treatments.

Common treatments for psoriasis may include:

  • light therapy or phototherapy
  • topical or oral corticosteroids
  • tazarotene (Tazorac)
  • coal tar
  • vitamin D analogs, which are synthetic forms of vitamin D that don’t affect your blood calcium level
  • immunosuppressants, such as cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune)
  • retinoids
  • methotrexate
  • biologics
  • oral phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitors, which help prevent cell turnover
  • oral tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitors, which block the activation of certain immune cells

Psoriasis is most known for its effects on the skin, but it also causes inflammation throughout the body and other problems.

Doctors may recommend additional therapies depending on how psoriasis affects your body. They may recommend you talk with a rheumatologist if psoriasis affects your bones and joints or a mental health professional if you need mental health support.

Psoriasis on its own isn’t really seen as a condition that can affect your overall life expectancy.

However, people with psoriasis may be more likely to have other conditions that can affect life expectancy.

For example, psoriasis can appear with other autoimmune diseases like:

People with psoriasis also are at increased risk of several other conditions, including:

Many topical treatments focus on reducing the symptoms of psoriasis. However, management and major reduction in symptoms usually require the use of systemic medications like:

  • methotrexate
  • steroids
  • biologics
  • immunosuppressants

Some forms of psoriasis are triggered or worsened by stress, certain foods, or even viruses. Taking actions to support your overall health and reduce inflammation may help.

Some lifestyle changes that can help you manage your psoriasis and reduce systemic inflammation include:

Psoriasis is a lifelong disease that has no cure.

However, treatment may help you manage or lower your symptoms, as well as reduce disease activity.

You can also make certain lifestyle changes, like managing stress, to help reduce the effects of inflammation on your body and prevent relapse.