You know when you see those adverts with the tagline…. Itchy flaky scalp??? Or are your arms like the sahara? ? Well that pretty much describes me if I don’t mind my skin!
I like over 100,000 people in our lovely country suffer with Psorasis! Suffer sometimes seems too strong a word as I have it only on my scalp and elbows in patches but the impact it can have on people that do suffer badly is quite huge. From the physical manifestation to the impact on confidence the spectrum is quite big!
So here are some common misunderstandings about it:
Psoriasis is contagious or cannot be treated.Psoriasis will go away by itself, if you live a healthy life,conventional and alternative treatments exist that can cure psoriasis or that it is a rare disease. Psoriasis is just a skin disease
So what is it? Its an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin surface! It appears with red angry looking patches which are covered with silverly scale like tissue.
From my own perspective the Sun clears it up completely however in Ireland I have as much chance of regular sun as I do of winning the lotto. So here is what I do, I moisturise my body twice a day all over using Palmers cocoa butter. I have prescribed creams from the Doctor which I use twice a week. I use Aqueous cream instead of shower gel on my body and once a week i cover my affected bits in emulsifying base and leave it on overnight.The scalp thing is a bit harder to manage but coconut oil is effective and keeps my hair shiny!I have a medicated shampoo that I use once a week and some ointment too from the Dermatologist!
A lot of patients find it can negatively impact their confidence and career choice! I feel lucky that apart from the very odd quesion when i get a flare up it doesn’t affect me at all. I still feel glam and lovely! For more info check out http://www.underthespotlight.ie/psoriasis.html
GlamityJane 