Story of My Life – Psoriasis

Many people do not have a good understanding of psoriasis unless of course, they have it. Even with psoriasis, many are unsure of how to care for their skin. I’ve had psoriasis for almost ten years now and it took me quite a while to get used to.

Story of my life: It took me a while to figure out that I got psoriasis because I was only a teenager when I got my first signs of psoriasis on my scalp. My family of course, didn't know what it was and assumed it was a rash that would go away by chopping off my long black hair. So what did they do? Chop off my long black hair and when I say chop, I mean give me a boy's buzz cut. Unfortunately that did not work and I went to at least ten different doctors to find a cure. As the years pass and the stress increased, it has gradually made its wait through the rest of my body, reaching all parts of my body. I am currently struggling with minor patches of psoriasis on my arms, legs, stomach, back, scalp, butt, and even the face. It is quite a struggle to hide my imperfections every day, but I have learned to love my skin and take care of it to minimize the outbreaks. I try to stay away from steroid medications and topical creams, so what I do includes the following:

• Moisturize daily – I was never a fan of lotion until I have started to use it daily a few months ago. I didn’t believe the difference it actually makes on my skin, but it does help to ease the pain and pulling of the skin. The best time to moisturize is after a hot shower when your skin becomes dried. Be sure to pat dry your skin rather than pulling.
• Take cool showers – This is a difficult one, especially in the winter, but it is important to not take extremely hot showers. Taking hot showers will irritate the skin and make your psoriasis worse. If needed, take a warm shower and rinse off with cold water.
• Eat healthy – Psoriasis is due to a bad liver which means it is important to maintain a healthy diet. Skip the soda and unhealthy foods which include fried and oily items. Eating healthy will help your liver which helps your psoriasis. You will notice a difference in the texture of your hair and it helps to lighten the flakes.
• Stay away from alcohol – Once I drink, I have an immediate breakout the next day. I start itching a lot more and its just uncontrollable. Aside from my 21st birthday, I have not drank for years now. I am not going to lie, I have been drinking lately because it is my last few weeks with my friends in America so I sacrificed my skin a bit. Surprisingly, my breakout was not as bad as it used to be, shows that I have been building my internal system. Yay!
• Get a full eight hours of sleep every night – This is extremely important for good health and beauty of course. I always stress the importance of getting a full night of rest and I am known for the girl who will not go out just to sleep by 12am. After all these years, it shows on my face with minimal eye bags and dark circles. The best part is I know it works for my skin because on the nights that I stay out until 5am, my skin is irritated and I scratch all night long. 
• Wear gloves to sleep – This is extremely important for those who are like me and scratch a lot. Wearing gloves at night will help to reduce the amount and the intensity of scratching. I have had so many bloody sheets from scratching nonstop, but the gloves actually help to control the itching. It’s like having chicken pox every day.
• Dont wash your hair every other day – The trick for those with psoriasis in the scalp is to wash your hair back to back and skip a day. This pattern will help to reduce the number of flakes found in the hair. 
• Go to the beach – Whenever possible, stay in the salt water which helps to clear up psoriasis. Trust me when I say, it works like magic. My psoriasis always clears up in the summer time and its the best time for tanning which helps to clear up the white spots after my psoriasis patches disappears. There is also the option of tanning beds in the summer, getting in some UVB rays for your skin. I've only done it once but because I am able to control my skin, I try to stay away from the tanning beds. 

The next time you see someone with red spots or flaking in the scalp and skin, don’t assume that they just can’t care for themselves or they have an infectious disease. Psoriasis is not something that all can live with, but it is something that I have no choice about. The best treatment to psoriasis in addition to topical creams is to reduce stress. Unfortunately, living in the New York area, it is impossible to do so. The next best medication—MOVE. This is exactly what I will be doing to see if there is a change for my skin. As for the rest, good luck!