World Psoriasis Day is Thursday and a man in Lycoming County has been struggling with debilitating psoriasis since he was a boy, but now treatment he's getting at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville has him feeling the best he has in years.
A first look at James Raborn of Jersey Shore shows no sign of the serious skin condition he's been struggling with since he was 5 years old.
But when he pulls up his sleeve, he reveals his psoriasis during a good time for him, not a flare-up that can be debilitating.
"You get a lot of swelling, you get a lot of pain, the itching and burning. It's very hard to deal with at those times when it flares up," said Raborn.
Those symptoms have even affected his job.
"It's been pretty challenging working with it, having flare-ups that can have me in the bed for a couple weeks at a time."
Raborn moved to Lycoming County from Louisiana in March to be closer to his wife's family.
That also brought him to dermatologist Dr. Christen Mowad at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville. She knows the challenges the different forms of psoriasis can bring her patients.
"They don't kill people, but they can be very annoying, frustrating, embarrassing," said Dr. Mowad.
Photos from the National Psoriasis Foundation show the disease and how it can involve more than just the skin. In 30 percent of patients, it can also trigger arthritis.
Psoriasis most commonly occurs in those between the ages of 15 and 35. It's generally on the scalp, knees, elbows, and torso. The exact cause is unknown, but it's believed genetics are involved.
Treatment of psoriasis depends on its severity, from ointments to light therapy to biologic injections.
"So, there are many ways to treat psoriasis and it really depends on the individual patients, and really what they are expecting and what they are accepting in terms of risks," said Dr. Mowad.
"Topical ointments and creams they did not work with me," said Raborn. "Where I'm at with my condition, I need the biological injections, stuff that goes right into my system and reacts from the inside out."
He says Dr. Mowad is on top of the latest treatments and has figured out a plan for him that is working better than anything else he's tried, not just prescribing treatments just to try them.
"Definitely it helps, it helps a lot," Raborn added. "It helps me and also gives me comfort knowing a doctor who will treat me as a patient instead of like one of those guinea pigs."
An estimated 7.5 million Americans suffer from psoriasis.
James Raborn has a moderate to severe case of it. He gets those biologic injections every two months and says he sees a difference as soon as he gets them.
