Phototherapy is the treatment of a wide variety of inflammatory skin conditions by the administration of increasing increments of ultraviolet light to the skin in a precise controlled fashion. The patient’s whole body or a localised area can be treated.
Referral for Phototherapy can only be made by a Dermatologist, if your GP believes your condition may be helped by Phototherapy they will refer you to your local Dermatology clinic.
There are a range of phototherapies available: UVB, UVA1 and photochemotherapy (PUVA).
Phototherapy and photochemotherapy (PUVA) are therapies that involve exposing the skin to ultraviolet irradiation. With PUVA, UVA irradiation is combined with the agent Psoralen.
We do not yet understand exactly how phototherapy and photochemotherapy work, but there is no doubt about their effectiveness in treating a range of conditions.
Did you know?
Phototherapy by natural sunlight has been used since antiquity. It was first recognised in the ancient Indus Valley culture (pre 3000 BC). More information exists in the ancient Egyptian times, when sunlight alone was used for therapy.
Ra the Egyptian sun god is the source of the modern term radiation.
Ancient Egyptians used a combination of sap of the plant Ammi majus and sunlight for the treatment of vitiligo. This treatment approach seemed lost until is was rediscovered by another Egyptian in the late 1940’s.