Acitretin or Tazarotene Gel and Excimer Laser for Treatment of Psoriasis

Inclusion Criteria: * Must give written informed consent * Must be at least 18 years old * Must have been diagnosed with stable plaque type psoriasis covering between 1 and 5% BSA * NPF-PS ≥8 (based additive scores averaged over all lesions for erythema, scale, and thickness range of score = 0-5) * No systemic or phototherapy in the 4 wks prior to entering the study * No topical therapy other than emollients (no corticosteroids, vitamin D analogs, vitamin A analogs) in the 2 wks prior to entering the study * Women on tazarotene gel must not be pregnant nor planning to become pregnant during the study and must be on two forms of birth control * Subjects known to not tolerate oral acitretin at 25 mg/day and women of child-bearing potential may be enrolled and treated with topical tazarotene gel 0.1% Exclusion Criteria: Candidates will be excluded from study entry if any of the following exclusion criteria exist at the time of enrollment: * Unstable disease * Only treatable sites are in intertriginous areas or on face * Subjects unable to tolerate frequency of visits * NPF-PS severity score \<8 additive score of erythema, scale, and thickness, averaged over all lesions * History of inability to tolerate topical tazarotene 0.1% gel and or acitretin 25 mg/day * Women of childbearing potential are excluded from the actretin arm of the study.