Soothing Psoriasis Balm with Qing Dai (Indigo Naturalis)

Several years ago, a customer of mine reported successfully using a combination of my skincare products with a traditional Chinese herb, Qing Dai (Indigo Naturalis) to relieve his psoriasis ailment. He emailed me an article on Qing Dai's clinically-demonstrated healing benefits for psoriasis (summarized below) that inspired my formulation of Gaia Essentials' Psoriasis Balm. I incorporated other healing ingredients proven to alleviate skin inflammation and irritation and decided on a potent base combination of Organic Castor, Organic Hemp and Emu oils.

Since then, more customers have started using it and all are reporting amazing results. One testimony: 

“Dear Debby,

Two weeks ago, I bought your psoriasis balm. I wasn’t sure it would work, but the results have been amazing. Several sores are now GONE.” – Roger

The original customer, Juris, my inspiration for this creation, sent me before and after pictures to monitor the success.

Actual Clinical Test Results and Doctor’s credits from the Archives of Dermatology:

Clinical Assessment of Patients With Recalcitrant Psoriasis in a Randomized, Observer-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled Trial Using Indigo Naturalis

Yin-Ku Lin, MD; Chee-Jen Chang, PhD; Ya-Ching Chang, MD; Wen-Rou Wong, MD; Shu-Chen Chang, PhD; Jong-Hwei Su Pang, PhD

Arch Dermatol. 2008;144(11):1457-1464.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with indigo naturalis in patients with recalcitrant plaque-type psoriasis.

Design: Randomized, observer-blind, vehicle-controlled, intrapatient comparison study.

Setting: Ambulatory department of a hospital.

Participants: Forty-two outpatients with chronic plaque psoriasis were enrolled in the study from May 1, 2004, to April 30, 2005.

Intervention: The patients applied either indigo naturalis ointment or vehicle ointment topically to each of 2 bilaterally symmetrical psoriatic plaque lesions for 12 weeks (depending on the date of enrollment in the study).

Main Outcome Measures: The outcomes were assessed using the following criteria: the sum of erythema, scaling, and induration scores and the clearing percentage of the target plaque lesion assessed by 2 blinded observers.

Results: Significant reductions in the sum of scaling, erythema, and induration scores (P < .001) (mean score, 6.3 after indigo naturalis treatment vs 12.8 in control subjects) and plaque area percentage (P < .001)(mean percentage, 38.5% after indigo naturalis treatment vs 90% in controls) were achieved with topical application of indigo naturalis ointment. Approximately 31 of 42 patients (74%) experienced clearance or near clearance of their psoriasis in the indigo ointment–treated lesion.

Conclusion: Topical indigo naturalis ointment was a novel, safe, and effective therapy for plaque-type psoriasis. 
Author Affiliations: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine (Dr Lin), and Department of Dermatology (Drs Y.-C. Chang and Wong), Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences (Drs Lin, C.-J. Chang, Wong, and Su Pang) and College of Medicine (Dr Y.-C. Chang), Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, and Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei (Dr S.-C. Chang), Taiwan.