Psoriasis

What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition where your white blood cells mistakenly attack your skin cells.  This causes your body to produce new skin cells too quickly.  As a result, you may develop thick, scaly patches of skin that may also be red or inflamed.  The common symptoms, causes, and treatments for psoriasis will be discussed in this article.  Chinese Medicine and how cosmetic acupuncture can help treat psoriasis will also be discussed.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis Symptoms:

Psoriasis may be uncomfortable and annoying, but you may be glad to know it’s not contagious.  While there are several types of psoriasis, the most common symptoms of the condition are thick, inflamed patches of skin.  These patches may be either red, purple, or brown.  These patches of skin can often be painful, itchy, or burning, and usually have silver, white, or grey scales of dry skin on them.  If you have psoriasis, you may notice that your symptoms flare up from time to time, then subside again. 

Psoriasis Causes:

One of the main causes of psoriasis is your own immune system.  In autoimmune disorders like psoriasis, the cells in the immune system attack your own cells instead of pathogens like viruses.  Psoriasis occurs when your immune system attacks your skin cells.  Your skin responds to this attack by producing new skin cells more quickly.  This causes skin cells to build up because the older skin cells don’t have enough time to fall off.  As a result, raised patches of skin appear; inflammation may also occur due to the attack.

Certain triggers may also bring on psoriasis flare ups.  These can vary from person to person and may change over time.  Common psoriasis triggers include stress, sunburn, shots and vaccines, medications, drinking alcohol, and infections or injuries.

Psoriasis Treatment:

To make sure your skin condition is psoriasis and not another disease, your doctor will usually just perform a physical examination.  If your symptoms are unclear, you may also need a biopsy.

Researchers have so far concluded that there isn’t a cure for psoriasis.  But there are treatments available for soothing your symptoms.  These medications work in different ways, by slowing down the production of skin cells, and reducing inflammation and scales.  Depending on how severe your symptoms are, your doctor may prescribe either topical creams or oral or injected medications to treat your symptoms.  The problem with medications like methotrexate and cyclosporine that are taken orally or injected, is that they often come with severe side effects.  That means you may develop more severe problems than your original symptoms.  

Other treatments that may help reduce your symptoms include light therapy and diet.  Losing weight if you’re overweight can help, as well as avoiding trigger foods like meat, dairy, and processed foods.  You should also include many nutritious whole foods, vegetables and fruits in your daily diet.

Psoriasis

Acupuncture for Psoriasis: 

If you’re looking for a psoriasis treatment option without a risk of severe side effects, cosmetic acupuncture may be the option for you.  Acupuncture originates from Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has been practised for thousands of years.  While acupuncture is traditionally used to treat health problems, it can also be used to treat skin and cosmetic problems too.

Acupuncture involves inserting thin needles into specific points in the body.  These points link to a complex network of energy meridians. By accessing this energy network, your acupuncturist can help your body to heal from the inside out. At our clinics in Hamilton and Remuera, Auckland, our qualified practitioners can use acupuncture techniques to help treat psoriasis in a natural but effective way.

Conclusion:

Overall, psoriasis is a condition caused by the immune system attacking your skin cells.  This leads to raised, inflamed patches of scaly skin.  Although there are many medications available to treat psoriasis, many of these come with side effects.  Therefore, treatments like acupuncture can provide an effective and safer treatment option for psoriasis.

To find out more about cosmetic acupuncture, see our webpage at https://balancetcm.co.nz/category/facial-acupuncture/.

If you’d like to know more about how Chinese Medicine can help, please see our website at https://balancetcm.co.nz/traditional-chinese-medicine-hamilton/.

Psoriasis

Our Offer to You:

Fill in our online questionnaire for free – and save the $135 it would cost you to do this detailed medical history in person with a practitioner.  You can request a phone call from a practitioner after they have read your online form, or just book your initial exam for $40.  Call us on 07 846 7956 to book, or fill in the questionnaire now.

References:

Centre of Balance Hamilton: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine (n.d.). Archive for category: Facial Acupuncture. https://balancetcm.co.nz/category/facial-acupuncture/

Holland, K. (2020, June 30). Everything You Need to Know About Psoriasis. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/psoriasis

Phua, S. (n.d.). What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine? Centre of Balance Hamilton: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine. https://balancetcm.co.nz/traditional-chinese-medicine-hamilton/

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Monica

I am originally from Hebei province in China. I hold a NZ bachelor’s degree of health and science with a major in acupuncture. I am honoured to be an acupuncturist at Centre of Balance. Helping patients to alleviate their pain brings me the greatest joy. Chinese medicine emphasises the unity of human beings and nature. During the treatment, I hope to not only relieve your pain but also help you to understand the principles behind acupuncture’s effectiveness, as well as the significant impact of diet, emotions, lifestyle habits, and living environments on disease recovery. Self-healing is an ability that our bodies are naturally endowed with.

I studied acupuncture in New Zealand and completed one and a half years of supervised clinical internship before graduating. In the early stage of my training, I mainly worked with patients experiencing neck, shoulder, and lower back pain. Under the guidance of senior clinical tutors, I gradually developed hands-on experience and confidence in treating musculoskeletal pain conditions.
As my clinical exposure expanded, I began treating a wider range of internal conditions. Alongside traditional acupuncture, I was introduced to Umbilical Acupuncture and Tungs-acupuncture Points. What interested me most about these approaches is that they often do not require needling directly at the painful area, yet can still achieve very effective results.
I was especially inspired by observing my supervisor use Umbilical Acupuncture to treat common conditions such as insomnia, menstrual irregularities, and even rheumatoid arthritis, with very positive outcomes. Another supervisor was highly skilled in Tungs-acupuncture Points and achieved excellent results in treating pain, infertility, menstrual disorders, and a variety of women’s health conditions. After completing my studies and entering clinical practice, once I observed Dr. Szenan Phua using Tungs-acupuncture points to help cancer patients relieve pain, which further strengthened my trust in this treatment method.
I later completed training in Dr. Tan Balance Acupuncture, which had a strong influence on the way I approach treatment. One of the most noticeable features of this method is how quickly patients often feel improvement, especially with pain conditions. Dr. Szenan Phua’s New Balance Acupuncture combines meridian regulation with structural adjustment and internal organ balancing, including techniques such as pulse balancing and spinal adjustment.
From my clinical experience, pain is rarely just a local issue. It often involves underlying organ weakness or structural imbalance. When these aspects are addressed together, treatment can be more thorough and longer-lasting. I also apply this approach to internal conditions, particularly in fertility and women’s health. This includes supporting natural conception, IVF preparation and embryo transfer, pregnancy support, early-pregnancy nausea, and late-pregnancy labour induction. I combine these treatments with concepts learned from a few additional fertility training, which has given me a broader and more flexible clinical perspective. This has reinforced my belief that acupuncture should be adapted to each individual rather than applied through fixed formulas.
Two other areas of study that have been very helpful in my clinical work are Tongue Diagnosis and Dr. Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture. Although tongue diagnosis is taught in my standard Chinese medicine training, further study allowed me to deepen and refine my diagnostic skills.
My first formal training was in Li’s Tongue Diagnosis, which looks not only at organ patterns, but also at how different areas of the tongue reflect the body’s structure. This system also explores personality traits and changes during pregnancy, making it both clinically useful and engaging. I later attended online lectures on Yin’s Tongue Diagnosis and studied the related materials independently. this learning has helped me make clearer and more accurate pattern differentiation, allowing my acupuncture treatments to be more targeted. It covers a wide range of conditions, including skin disorders, oncology-related presentations, mental health patterns, and joint or limb problems. In practice, tongue observation often provides valuable insight even before a patient begins describing their symptoms.
In addition to the methods above, I regularly use local bloodletting techniques, which can be very effective for improving circulation, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. I also incorporate auricular (ear) acupressure and stimulation, which I commonly use for allergies, insomnia, headaches, stress management, and various internal conditions.
In my clinical work, I value taking the time to listen carefully to each patient and to understand their overall health, lifestyle, and concerns. Based on each individual’s condition, I also provide personalised dietary guidance and lifestyle or wellness advice to support overall health and long-term wellbeing. I commonly support patients with musculoskeletal pain, such as neck, shoulder, knee, and back pain, as well as stress-related conditions, sleep issues, migraines, digestive concerns, and women’s health and fertility-related conditions.