A sunny day on the front lawn may be just what Ralph Maglio needs to help relieve his psoriasis. That's one way to treat the red, scaly patches of skin that can be very irritating.    

"It's just a scratching, just a flare-up, a redness, and it just won't stop and you'll be scratching it for hours on end," said Ralp Maglio, a psoriasis patient.    

Dermatologist Mathew Avram estimates up to 5 million Americans suffer from the skin condition, which may be due to a problem with the immune system.    

"It's a disease that often lingers with patients for years, and they can try various different treatments and the condition kind of waxes and wanes over time and as it comes back, it does take a psychological impact on the patient," said dermatologist Dr. Mathew Avram.  

Dr. Avram recommends patients start out with topical creams, but there are other treatments.   

"We have oral pills. We have phototherapy, which is light treatment and we have these new injections called biologics, where actual proteins are injected into the skin," said Dr. Avram.

In Ralph's case, there's old-fashioned sunshine.  But Dr. Avram warns patients that too much sun exposure can increase long-term risk of skin cancer.