Day 1 - Initial Assessment...

My appointment today was for 10.30...although happened a little later than planned due to traffic, parking and the hospital staff not having a clue where to send me...three receptions later I find myself at the Physiotherapy Department. I check in, asked a few questions, before I meet my physiotherapist who will be helping me with my treatment for the next 6-8 weeks. She brings me to a corner of the physio room where there are chairs and what looks like a big tank, but is actually the light box.

First thing is first, she asks me about what medications I am currently on and how I find them, as well as a short medical history. My skin is then assessed to determine my type and what doseage i will be recieving, seems i'm type II. She looks over my skin to see my worst affected areas, being my arms, right leg and hips. A clear area of skin is then tested with a small hot device, it is placed on the upper right of my back for one minute. The result of this test will be read 24 hours later, being tomorrow morning and will calculate the correct starting dose from the reaction.

After this test she goes over the sheet which I was given to read while she was setting up the machine. It explains what today was about, and how the process will go. She also showed me how I will be in the box, how to open and close it, and what happens during the treatment.

There is also a section about on the day of treatment, like not wearing deodorants, perfumes etc. as they could cause irritation of the skin. No cream is to be applied on the day of treatment, but a daily mosituring routine should be in place as the plaques tend to get very dried out. On her recommendation, I picked up some Aqueous cream for light moisturising in the mornings and Silcocks base for moisturising at night, in Boots afterwards for about €4 each. I can also keep using my dovobet as prescribed if needed, but I will probably wait until later on in the treatment if I find my psoriasis is becoming irritated before using it again. Other advise on the sheet include avoiding some foods, like figs and limes etc, avoiding significant alcohol consumption, no use of sunbeds or prolonged sun exposure. Hairstyle to be kept the same, in my case, tied up so as to not cover my skin during treatment. The position in the light box should be replicated each time to ensure same coverage every session.

Onto the third page of the sheet, it gives account of the possible side effects.
-The most common being redness, soreness and occasional blisters. Some tanning can also be likely.
-Repeated courses can lead to increased risk of skin cancer, but they say this only increases after 350 treatments, i'll be having 18, or 24 at the most.
-Dry and itchy skin can also be experienced, but moisturising can prevent this.
-Goggles are worn to prevented the increased risk of developing cataracts.
-Cold sores may become activated if the patient has a history of these.
-An itchy rash due to sunlight, polymorphic light eruption, may very occasionally occur.

Lastly it is very important to avoid any other forms of ultra-violet light during the treatment, including sunlight, the weather here is really starting to pick up lately, with alot of sunlight during the day, but it shouldn't be too hard considering it is still fairly cold and not quite t-shirt weather yet! I was then asked to fill in a questionaire to see how my psoriasis affected my way of life, and I think I will be filling in one again once the treatment is complete to show any difference in how I live my life.

Overall i found the physio to be helpful and explained everything well. I am looking forward to finally getting started tomorrow and seeing how the treatment helps me.

Until tomorrow, take care :)
Sarah