Where Do You Get Psoriasis

Heat Rash: Sweating That Leads To Bumpy Red Skin

Inverse psoriasis is a type of psoriasis that forms in the armpits and skin folds under breasts or in groin areas, making the skin red and shiny. Sweating makes this type of psoriasis worse. Heat rash also makes your skin red and forms in skin folds of the groin, breasts, and armpits. Heat rash occurs in hot, humid conditions. Sweating can cause your pores to get blocked and result in a bumpy, red skin rash that stings. Heat rash is more common in newborns, but can also affect older children and adults.

How Is Psoriasis Diagnosed And Treated

Psoriasis often has a typical appearance that a primary care doctor can recognize, but it can be confused with other skin diseases , so a dermatologist is often the best doctor to diagnose it. The treatment of psoriasis usually depends on how much skin is affected, how bad the disease is , or the location . Treatments range from creams and ointments applied to the affected areas to ultraviolet light therapy to drugs . Many people who have psoriasis also have serious health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression. Some people with psoriasis also have an inflammatory condition which affects their joints, called psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis has many of the same symptoms as other types of arthritis, so a rheumatologist is often the best doctor to diagnose it. The treatment of psoriatic arthritis usually involves the use of drugs .

Psoriatic disease may be treated with drugs or a combination of drugs and creams or ointments.

What Treatments Are Available For Nail Psoriasis

There are many treatments for nail psoriasis. Your treatment plan may include one or more of the following.Treatment you apply to the nails: This can be helpful for mild or early nail psoriasis. Nails grow slowly, so youll need to apply these treatments for several months, often once or twice a day. Because nail psoriasis can be stubborn, you may need to use more than one treatment. Sometimes, two medicines are combined to give you a faster response.

Treatment that you apply to your nails includes the follow.

• A potent or very potent corticosteroid: This can be helpful for most signs and symptoms of nail psoriasis. Its safe to use this medicine once or twice a day for up to nine months.

• Calcipotriol: In one study, researchers found this to be as effective as a potent corticosteroid at treating the buildup beneath the nail.

• Tazarotene: This treatment can be especially helpful for treating pitting, a separating nail, and discoloration.

If you need stronger treatment, your dermatologist may recommend treatment given in a dermatologist office or clinic. This treatment may include one of the following.

Psoriasis medicine that can help clear the skin and nails includes:

• A biologic

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Psoriasis Causes And Triggers

The exact cause of psoriasis is unclear.1 It is thought to be caused by a combination of your genetic makeup and environmental factors .2,3 Not everyone who inherits genes for psoriasis will develop the condition. If one of your parents has psoriasis you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting it yourself. If both your parents have psoriasis, this increases to a 1 in 2 chance.4

Having psoriasis genes and being exposed to certain triggers in your daily life may cause psoriasis to develop.3

Psoriasis triggers are not the same for everyone. What causes one person’s psoriasis to flare up may not affect another.1 You may also find your triggers change over time.1 Knowing your triggers makes them easier to avoid and helps you take control of your skin.

Triggers are different for each person what sets off psoriasis in one person may not have any affect in another. 1

Psoriasis Triggers To Know

There are also other day-to-day triggers that dont necessarily cause psoriasis, but might make it worse or spark a flareup:

• Infections
• Drinking a lot of alcohol
• Vitamin D deficiency

About half of patients with psoriasis experience a flare in their disease with stress. It can be mental stress or a physical stressor, says Dr. Reichenberg. Another common cause of flares is infections. We think that when a persons body starts to get the immune system ready to fight an infection, it also makes the part of the immune system responsible for psoriasis get over active.

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How Psoriasis Is Diagnosed

A GP can often diagnose psoriasis based on the appearance of your skin.

In rare cases, a small sample of skin called a biopsy will be sent to the laboratory for examination under a microscope.

This determines the exact type of psoriasis and rules out other skin disorders, such as seborrhoeic dermatitis, lichen planus, lichen simplex and pityriasis rosea.

You may be referred to a specialist in diagnosing and treating skin conditions if your doctor is uncertain about your diagnosis, or if your condition is severe.

If your doctor suspects you have psoriatic arthritis, which is sometimes a complication of psoriasis, you may be referred to a doctor who specialises in arthritis .

You may have blood tests to rule out other conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and X-rays of the affected joints may be taken.

Ways To Treat Psoriasis At Home

Psoriasis is a recurring autoimmune disorder characterized by red, flaky patches on the skin.

Even though it affects your skin, psoriasis actually begins deep inside your body in your immune system.

It comes from your T cells, a type of white blood cell. T cells are designed to protect the body from infection and disease. When these cells mistakenly become active and set off other immune responses, it can lead to psoriasis symptoms.

Even though theres no cure, many treatments exist to ease the symptoms of psoriasis. Here are 12 ways to manage mild symptoms at home.

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Shingles: A Rash And Severe Pain That Lingers

Shingles is another viral infection that shares some symptoms with psoriasis. Like psoriasis, shingles can make your skin burn and itch and produces a red, blistered skin rash. Shingles is caused by the same virus that first brings on chickenpox. The virus stays in your body and can come back years later to cause shingles, especially during times of stress or infection. The skin rash of shingles follows the course of a single nerve, usually on the trunk. In some cases, severe pain lasts long after the burning, itchy rash disappears. Shingles is more common in people over age 50.

What Injections Or Infusions Are Available For Psoriasis

Recently, a new group of drugs called biologics have become available to treat psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. They are produced by living cells cultures in an industrial setting. They are all proteins and therefore must be administered through the skin because they would otherwise be degraded during digestion. All biologics work by suppressing certain specific portions of the immune inflammatory response that are overactive in psoriasis. A convenient method of categorizing these drugs is on the basis of their site of action:

Drug choice can be complicated, and your physician will help in selecting the best option. In some patients, it may be possible to predict drug efficacy on the basis of a prospective patient’s genetics. It appears that the presence of the HLA-Cw6 gene is correlated with a beneficial response to ustekinumab.

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Problems With The Immune System

Your immune system is your body’s defence against disease and it helps fight infection. One of the main types of cell used by the immune system is called a T-cell.

T-cells normally travel through the body to detect and fight invading germs, such as bacteria. But in people with psoriasis, they start to attack healthy skin cells by mistake.

This causes the deepest layer of skin to produce new skin cells more quickly than usual, triggering the immune system to produce more T-cells.

It’s not known what exactly causes this problem with the immune system, although certain genes and environmental triggers may play a role.

What Type Of Psoriasis Treatment Will I Need

Several treatment options can relieve psoriasis. Creams or ointments may be enough to improve the rash in small areas of skin. If the rash affects larger areas, or you also have joint pain, you may need other treatments. Joint pain may be a sign that you have arthritis.

Your provider will decide on a treatment plan based on:

• Severity of the rash.

• Vitamin A or retinoid creams.

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Here Are Some Ways Stress Might Affect You:

• Small flare-ups During stressful times in your life, you may find that you have a few spots appear on your skin. This can be frustrating as the small number of spots makes it challenging to cover them with makeup, reflecting how confident you feel about yourself.
• Severe outbreaks In more severe cases, stress can trigger a much worse outbreak than usual. When this happens, it will make you think about the connection between stress and psoriasis. This can be very frustrating as it will disrupt your daily life as you struggle to deal with this more extreme flare-up.
• Emotional impact Stress can harm your mental health, which may leave you feeling less confident about yourself and more emotional than usual. If you know that periods of high stress affect how active your skin is, then this will only add to the negative emotions that you are already experiencing.

Understanding what triggers a psoriasis outbreak can help you avoid those things in life so that your skin condition has fewer harmful effects on how confident you feel about yourself. While there is no way to directly prevent psoriasisoutbreaks caused by stress, having a positive outlook on life can help you cope with situations better. If psoriasis affects your mental health, you are already equipped to deal with this issue more effectively.

Seborrheic Dermatitis: Itchy Scaly Patches

A psoriasis skin rash tends to itch, burn, and feel sore. Patches of psoriasis commonly occur on your knees and elbows. Many people also have scalp psoriasis. The common skin rash seborrheic dermatitis also causes scaly, itchy skin patches. It can occur on your scalp, where it may be called dandruff, or on your face and chest. While doctors don’t know the exact cause of seborrhea, it occurs across the age spectrum, in babies as well as in adults, and is usually treated with creams and lotions.

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Psoriasis Can Cause Arthritis

For an unknown reason, psoriasis can cause a form of arthritis known as psoriatic arthritis. Symptoms include:

• discomfort, throbbing or swelling in one or many joints
• tenderness in any joint
• pain caused by inflammation in the joints, which stimulates nerve endings.
• The joints most likely to be affected are the last joint in the fingers or toes, the sacrum , wrists, knees or ankles.

How Is Psoriasis Diagnosed

There arent any special tests to help doctors diagnose psoriasis. Typically, a dermatologist will examine your skin and ask about your family history.

Youll likely be given a diagnosis based on this physical exam.

In some situations, doctors will remove a small sample of the skin and examine it under a microscope. This might allow them to get a better look at the affected area and make a more accurate diagnosis.

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Psoriasis And Mental Health

Skin conditions that affect your appearance naturally can make you self-conscious. Add the misconception that psoriasis is contagious, and it’s no wonder those with psoriasis are often embarrassed to show their skin. Because of this misconception, psoriasis can be very isolating and wear on mental health. “Its a real problem. A condition thats visible like this is a disease that can change how people view you,” Dr. Cather says. “It can change how you present yourself and even what you wear.”

Beyond that, research has shown that psoriasis can contribute to or worsen various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and more. For more information, check out SELFs reporting on the complex connection between psoriasis and mental health here.

How To Treat Psoriasis And The 11 Foods That Can Help Soothe Flare Ups

• Vanessa Chalmers, Digital Health Reporter

• 12:05 ET, Oct 28 2021

PEOPLE with psoriasis know the struggle of finding a treatment that works for them, all too well.

The condition causes red and crusty patches with silvery scales to flare-up on the skin.

In more serious cases it can have a crushing impact on a sufferers life.

Roughly two per cent of the population – both men and women – are affected by psoriasis.

Prominent figures that deal with the skin problem are model Cara Delevingne and singer Cyndi Lauper.

TV personality Kim Kardashian has also described psoriasis as her big flaw, always hoping for a cure.

Sadly, there is no cure for psoriasis.

Patients have to learn to deal with the condition by finding a treatment that works for them.

But some have also found that modifying their diet helps.

The NHS does not make specific diet recommendations for people with psoriasis, other than advising a balanced, healthy diet with regular exercise which it would recommend for everyone. It says this can also relieve stress, which may improve psoriasis symptoms.

The Psoriasis Association in the UK says there is not a definite link with food or a diet that works for everybody.

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What Can Trigger Psoriasis

Plenty of everyday things can act as a trigger, causing psoriasis to appear for the first time. Common psoriasis triggers include:

• Stress

• Skin injury, such as a cut or bad sunburn

• Infection, such as strep throat

• Some medications, including lithium, prednisone, and hydroxychloroquine

• Weather, especially cold, dry weather

• Tobacco

• Alcohol

These triggers can also cause psoriasis flare-ups. Different people have different triggers. For example, periods of intense stress may trigger your psoriasis but cold weather may not.

Thats why its so important for people who have psoriasis to know what triggers their psoriasis. Avoiding triggers can reduce psoriasis flares.

Youll find common triggers and what you can do to avoid them at: Are triggers causing your psoriasis flare-ups?

If you think you have psoriasis, its important to find out. Treatment can help relieve your discomfort and lead to clearer skin. You can find out how board-certified dermatologists diagnose and treat psoriasis at: Psoriasis: Treatment.

Related AAD resources

1 Gottlieb A, Korman NJ, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol 2008 58:851-64.2 Alexis AF, Blackcloud P. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2014 7:16-24.

ImageGetty Images

References Alexis AF, Blackcloud P. Psoriasis in skin of color: epidemiology, genetics, clinical presentation, and treatment nuances. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2014 7:16-24.

All content solely developed by the American Academy of Dermatology

Can Psoriatic Arthritis Affect Other Parts Of The Body

Having psoriatic arthritis can put you at risk of developing other conditions and complications around the body.

The chances of getting one of these are rare. But its worth knowing about them and talking to your doctor if you have any concerns.

Eyes

Seek urgent medical attention if one or both of your eyes are red and painful, particularly if you have a change in your vision. You could go to your GP, an eye hospital, or your local A& E department.

These symptoms could be caused by a condition called uveitis, which is also known as iritis. It involves inflammation at the front of the eye.

This can permanently damage your eyesight if left untreated.

Other symptoms are:

• blurred or cloudy vision
• sensitivity to light
• not being able to see things at the side of your field of vision known as a loss of peripheral vision
• small shapes moving across your field of vision.

These symptoms can come on suddenly, or gradually over a few days. It can affect one or both eyes. It can be treated effectively with steroids.

Heart

Psoriatic arthritis can put you at a slightly higher risk of having a heart condition. You can reduce your risk by:

• not smoking
• staying at a healthy weight
• exercising regularly
• eating a healthy diet, thats low in fat, sugar and salt
• not drinking too much alcohol.

These positive lifestyle choices can help to improve your arthritis and skin symptoms.

Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about your heart health.

Crohns disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

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What Are The Natural Treatments To Deal With Stress And Psoriasis

• The natural treatments cover a wide range of approaches that you can use to help fight stress and hopefully reduce the number of flare-ups that you experience on a day-to-day basis. Homeopathic treatment is the natural mode of treatment by which you can deal with both mental and physical stress caused by psoriasis.
• Like other natural therapies, homeopathyis a perfect way to reduce the intensity of the flare-ups by balancing your mental and physical condition with your immune system.
• Homeopathic treatment for psoriasis helps fight against psoriasis by focusing on the root cause rather than suppressing it. There are various remedies available for psoriasis which can be used alone or combined with others that cover all aspects of stress management, from dealing with depression to overcoming anxiety issues. Homeopathic treatment can help you feel better about yourself without having to depend on drugs, where the potential side effects might end up giving you even more problems over time.

In addition, some lifestyle changes are suggested by homeopathy doctorsto deal with stress and psoriasis. Homeopathic treatment has a holistic approach where dealing with the root cause of the problem is more important than suppressing it. You can book an appointment through OHO Homeopathy and visit a registered homeopathy doctor to deal with your stress and psoriasis in the most effective way!