Biofeedback and Control of Skin Cell Proliferation in Psoriasis

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine the effect of skin-temperature-biofeedback training on cellular proliferation in three psoriasis patients. It was hypothesized that (a) psoriasis patients would be able consciously to decrease skin temperature of psoriatic tissue and (b) there would be a positive correlation between rate of cellular proliferation and temperature change. Results obtained indicated biofeedback training to be effective in decreasing the surface temperature of psoriatic tissue. Temperature-training effects generalized from the location of the thermistor to the contralateral limb. Rate of cellular proliferation decreased from pretraining to post-training biopsies. Dramatic improvement in psoriatic plaques was usually observed up to 4 mo. posttraining.