Plaque Psoriasis & Supplemental Insurance

There are 5 types of psoriasis; plaque, guttate, inverse, pustular, and erythrodermic. Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis condition which appears as red and white hues of scaly patches which appear on the surface of the skin. Psoriasis may be unsightly, but it's not contagious!

Psoriasis begins to set in when the immune system starts to send the message to the skin cells to speed up their growth. This is a faulty message which causes skin to rapidly accumulate making the skin look thick, dry, and white or silvery in appearance. As it progresses, surfaces in the skin begin to crack or break which causes the area to become sore and in some cases bleeding can occur. Open cuts can lead to infection if the areas affected go untreated.

This chronic disorder varies in severity sometimes afflicting one or more areas of the body such as the fingernails, feet, or toe nails. Although the cause of psoriasis is not completely understood, it seems to flare up under times of stress, or be triggered by other environmental factors.

Natural: Those looking for a natural way to treat psoriasis can expose the affected area to sunlight. The Sun UV rays has been said to slow down the growth of skin cells, which decreases symptoms.

Medical: Another way is to treat the affected area with the use of an ointment or cream containing coal tar, dithranol (anthralin) corticosteroids; desoximetasone (Topicort), fluocinonide, vitamin D3 Analogues i.e. calcipotriol, and retinoids are usually prescribed. While they all work a little differently they have a common function to normalise skin cell production and reduce inflammation.

Never Self-diagnose! If you feel you may be suffering from psoriasis you should see a doctor to get a medical diagnosis. Most people would probably see a dermatologist, or in the case of psoriasis of the feet, you would contact a Podiatrist.

Costs are always an issue when it comes to diagnosing and treating psoriasis conditions. Doctor's appointments, prescription medicines can be costly, especially when you don't have an insurance policy to absorb some of the financial burden.

A Canadian health card to some extent will cover appointment expenses to see a dermatologist and in some cases will partially cover the services of a podiatrist depending on what province you reside in. Medications on the other hand fall directly on you which are decided upon having or not having insurance to fall back on.

If you have an insurance plan get informed about what coverage you have in regards to seeing doctors and paying for medications. If you have an insurance plan that does not cover specific treatments or services, you can always add on to your existing insurance plan by investing in supplemental insurance that might cost a few more dollars a month but could save you a bundle over time.

If you do not have insurance, shop around for an insurance that covers your needs.
From personal experience I've been guilty of not really being aware of what coverage I actually have and from time to time have paid for health and medical services that I had partial coverage for. I'm sure I'm not alone on this because I've heard of people who have avoided treatments or even avoided seeing a doctor based on what they believe they have had coverage for. What it boils down to is, if you have psoriasis, and you have some type of health insurance check it out, inquire by digging deeper into your policy and if you can't understand the terms in the policy, get an insurance representative on the phone and have them explain your coverage to you in a way that you can understand.