If you’re like me, your psoriasis drives you nearly insane with the constant itching and burning — the more patches you have, the more you suffer. Here are a few tips to help you avoid that itch and save your skin from the constant scratching and subsequent bleeding.
The first tip is to use the mildest and most natural soap you can find when you bathe. I try to use all natural soaps such as organic olive oil soap or natural tea tree soaps — they are more expensive (much more expensive than your typical 10-bar brick of Dial soap at Costco), but are well worth the money. You need to come to grips that you will be spending money to relieve your symptoms and try to heal yourself. These natural soaps will not dry your skin as much as the mass-produced commercial soaps that are filled with harsh ingredients and loads of artificial ingredients and perfumes.
Next, put a bottle of baby oil in your shower and coat your skin with it right before your final rinse-off. This will seem a little strange and messy at first, but it will put a thin film of oil on your skin to seal in the moisture, and will have an immediate effect on your itching and scratching. Apply the baby oil, rinse off, then towel dry lightly.
Your final step is to apply a thick cream or lotion to the affected areas before getting dressed. This provides an additional layer of moisture for your damaged skin, and will relieve the itching for about 6 hours or so — I like to use Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream that I get 2 for 1 at Costco. The cream is thicker than the lotion, and seems to seal in the moisture much better.
If I forget any of these steps for even one single day, I start to itch so badly that it is nearly unbearable. Hopefully you will be able to calm your symptoms using these methods, and the constant itching and suffering will be a distant memory.
These patches are referred to as plaques; they normally start as small red bumps. This psoriasis can be inherited and it is not contagious. Approximately 5.5 million people in United States are affected by plaque psoriasis. Plaque can remain for months or years on the affected area and they can appear and disappear.
Guttate psoriasis is not contagious and it can be inherited. It mostly affects young adults and children. It is normally found on trunks, legs or arms and on the limbs, the spots come suddenly or sometimes after some kind of virus or bacteria infection. Guttate psoriasis can be either severe or milder; milder psoriasis can be clear up without treatment and can not reoccur while severe psoriasis requires oral medication and injections. This can occur as plaque psoriasis and later on can be converted into guttate psoriasis because of chicken pox, skin injury and strep throat.
Pustular psoriasis normally affects the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Pustular psoriasis can lead to anemia, fever, and some other life threatening conditions, patients with this type need to be hospitalized.
Inverse psoriasis is known as flexural psoriasis, it is considered hidden psoriasis. Inverse psoriasis occurs in the folds of the skin such as in the armpits, groin and under breasts; it first shows up very red lesions in folds, it might appear as shinny and smooth patches. It affects 2-6% of the people, it is mostly common in the people who are overweight and it is irritated by sweating and friction.
Enythrodermic psoriasis is very rare because it affects 1-2% of the people. Enythrodermic psoriasis is very serious type of psoriasis. It covers 80% of the skin with redness, inflammation and psoriasis. Since it is a very danger type of psoriasis, it requires hospitalization; it can be life threatening, especially to the old people. Itchy and painful Enythrodermic psoriasis can be fatal and requires close monitoring.in this type skin loses the ability to regulate temperature and perform normal barrier functions.