Jim, the thread about Folk/Psychic healing made me think about a couple of folk remedies I've tried that worked. They are easy and cheap and I can't see how they could harm you in the least, so here they are. For psoriasis (this isn't practicall unless you're dealing with a small patch in a place that isn't too prominent, because it will leave a stain for about 10 days) - go to a health store and purchase some henna (it'll probably be under the "natural hair care section" and it may not say "henna" on the box, but check the ingredients. Try to get something that only contains henna. You can sometimes find a colorless kind and I don't know if that will work but it would be less messy - usually henna is reddish brown. Mix it into a thick paste using water (it should look like mud)and just a few drops of alcohol - spread it on the area affected by the psoriasis and wrap it up securely in a bandage so you don't get henna all over everything. Leave it on overnight and just wash it off in the morning. I had a small patch on my foot that didn't respond to any of the usual creams - the henna got rid of it in a couple of days! A man from Algeria, who told me about it, said that people in the Middle East use henna for all kinds of skin ailments.

For the arthritis, I don't know if you've ever heard of Edgar Cayce the psychic healer, but he was always prescribing "castor oil packs" for all kinds of ailments. A while back a man was telling me that his great grandmother from Georgia used them for arthritis, and I doubt if she'd heard about Cayce, so I thought maybe there was something to it. This would be super easy for a finger - I used it on my knee and the knee did get better quickly. Whether it was from the castor oil or not I don't know, but it won't hurt to try. Just get a piece of flannel and saturate it with castor oil, which you can buy in the drugstore for under $2.00. Place the saturated flannel on the affected area and wrap it up well with saran wrap, so it doesn't leak or get on anything because it will stain upholstry, etc. Then apply a little heat, (a heating pad works well for this) and leave it for around half hour. You can do this twice a day but once a day was enough for me. Like I said, I can't see how these remedies could harm you, they won't cost more than a couple of bucks, and if they work so much the better.