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Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a common skin disorder, which involves redness, itching, and flaky, silvery scales. The most commonly affected areas are knees, elbows, scalp, lower back and genitalia, but can be found on any part of skin. Psoriasis knows no age bar. It occurs in cycles when you have a certain period of relief and then the condition would again flare up.
Symptoms:
- Patches of oval shaped red flakes that burn and itch.
- Silvery, white scales and thickening of nails.
- The skin on the affected area becomes red in colour. It can even break and bleed.
- Patches of scales on the scalp.
- Joint pain or aching (psoriatic arthritis)
- Genital lesions in males.
- Pustules, which on itching may bleed.
What causes psoriasis:
No exact cause is known.
Possible factors which cause a trigger of this disorder are -
- Genetic predisposition
- Changes in temperature
- Stress and anxiety
- Certain medications such as anti-malarial drugs, antibiotics.
- Injury, cuts, burns, insect bites.
- People infected with HIV virus or undergoing treatment for cancer.
- General poor health
- Excessive consumption of alcohol
It can be many more. However, the good news is that psoriasis is not contagious.
Treatment:
Psoriasis has no cure and neither is there something as perfect treatment. The approach to treatment depends on a number of factors such as -severity of the condition, age, sex, what is causing the flare up, if the person has any other disease also etc.
Treatment usually is a three pronged approach -
Psoriasis treatment requires a lot of patience and will power. Just when you think that you are on the verge of being cured by treatment, you might get a sudden flare up because of God knows what reason. You might just have to start from the scratch again. Do not lose hope in such traumatic situations. It is a time taking process.
How to prevent flare ups-
- A well balanced diet along with diet restrictions.
- Avoid or minimize alcohol intake.
- Avoid excessive sun exposure. It might lead to a flare up in many cases.
- Maintain good skin hygiene to avoid any other infection. Avoid scrubbing your skin while bathing, so that there are no fresh outbreaks.
- Keep skin moist with creams and lotions as psoriasis aggravates on a dry skin. Epsom salts and oatmeal help reducing itching and remove scales.
- Be careful while shaving. Avoid cuts, insect bites, burns - any type of skin injury.
- Exercise, eat right and maintain a healthy weight.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that keeps reoccurring. It has it psychological toll also as people at times treat you strangely. So the best treatment is go to your doctor regularly, educate people about the disease and you will definitely improve the quality of your life.