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Page: Historical Treatment
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The history of psoriasis is littered with treatments of dubious effectiveness and high toxicity. These treatments received brief popularity at particular time periods or within certain geographical regions. The application of cat faeces to red lesions on the skin, for example, was one of the earliest topical treatments employed in ancient Egypt. Onions, sea salt and urine, goose oil and semen, wasp droppings in sycamore milk, and soup made from vipers have all been reported as being ancient treatments.
In the more recent past Fowler's solution, which contains a poisonous and carcinogenic arsenic compound, was used by dermatologists as a treatment for psoriasis during the 18th and 19th centuries. Grenz Rays (also called ultrasoft X-rays or Bucky rays) was a popular treatment of psoriasis during the middle of the 20th century. This type of therapy was superseded by ultraviolet therapy.
Undecylenic acid was investigated and used for psoriasis some 40 years ago.
All these treatments have fallen out of favour. One alternative treatment, fashionable in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, was Sulphur. Recently Sulphur has re-gained some credibilty as a safe alternative to steroids and coal tar.
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