Phototherapy is a way of treating psoriasis. This process exposes the affected area of the skin to UV rays so that the growth of skin cells slows down. This in turn significantly reduces the symptoms of psoriasis. Phototherapy can be carried out in a clinic or phototherapy unit. Ultraviolet B phototherapy involves exposing the skin to low dose of UV-B rays.

This can be done at home using a phototherapy lamp or in the doctor’s office. Narrow band UVB treatment involves exposing the skin to only specific wavelengths of UVB. Psoralen plus UV rays treatment uses UVA rays to treat psoriasis. The patient will have to take psoralen, a topical/oral medication which increases the skins sensitivity to sunlight. This slows down skin cell growth and eases psoriasis symptoms for some time. During this time, the patient will have to take extra care to protect their skin and eyes.

Laser therapy is another means of phototherapy for psoriasis. This is a more advanced and focused method which concentrates only on skin affected by psoriasis. The excimer laser emits high intensity UVB light onto specific areas of the skin while the pulsed dye laser uses a dye and light to destroy small blood vessels that are responsible for formation of psoriatic lesions on the skin