3 Main Ways to Stay Above Your Psoriasis

Psoriasis is the number one most prevalent autoimmune disease in the United States, affecting as many as 7.5 million Americans. It's an inflammatory skin condition that causes the skin cells to build up on the surface of the skin, resulting in well-demarcated, thick, red scaly patches on the skin. Did you know that there are five different types, all varying in severity—erythrodermic psoriasis, for example, results in burned-looking skin and may require hospitalization. 

Psoriasis can also be triggered by illnesses like strep throat, and in some cases is associated with arthritis. The most common variety is psoriasis vulgaris, also called plaque psoriasis, it occurs as flaky (and often itchy) red patches on the skin. Then there’s a rarer variety of the disease, called guttate. When it's dormant, this variety presents itself as sporadic, tiny patches on my skin. But when a flare-up happens those tiny patches get angrier and itchier, and they might cover your entire body.

The condition, every type of it, is chronic. So how do you stay on top of the flare ups? The good news is that over time, you can learn more about your triggers and how to clear a breakout as quickly as possible. Knowledge and observation are your best weapons against psoriasis!

Here are the three main points to utilize for the skin condition:

Step 1: Knowing My Triggers

It can be hard to avoid flares, but the most important thing you can do is avoid known triggers and make the appropriate lifestyle modifications. Several external factors can potentially aggravate psoriasis: skin injury, sun exposure or sunburn, stress, some medications, some infections like strep, smoking, or heavy alcohol use. Being overweight or obese can aggravate psoriasis, and weight loss has been shown to be helpful in overweight or obese patients. It's also important to have a well-balanced, healthy diet, and some people might find low-glycemic diets helpful.

Triggers differ from person to person, but for some, it's stress—whenever you’re going through a particularly chaotic or anxiety-ridden time in life, a sprinkling of psoriasis patches may show up on your arms, legs, and stomach without fail. It's a good marker to dial things down a bit and focus on yourself: Sleep always helps a lot, as does a healthy, nourishing diet and relaxing activities like yoga. 

Step 2: Relieving the Itching

Oatmeal baths are a typical remedy, though these days there’s prescriptions, creams, and even steroid lotions to help soothe the severity of psoriasis. Scratching can just aggravate the patches even more—or worse, cause scarring. Finding the most nourishing products for your skin is ideal, rather than trying more severe forms of solutions. Seeing as it’s a skin condition, focusing on hydrating and relieving your skin makes the most sense. Having a skin care routine specific to psoriasis is a great way to soften and pamper your skin even when there's no psoriasis to be found.

Step 3: Treating the Flare-Up

For more serious flare-ups, there are all kinds of prescription and medications, as well as other options like phototherapy, which safely (to a certain extent) uses UVA and UVB light to slow the growth of diseased skin cells. But for the smaller breakouts, a gentler remedy is simply amping up any moisturizing habits, as noted in number two. Hydrating the skin helps regularize its natural function and reproduction, while also doing wonders for minimizing the appearance of those scaly patches. Any kind of heavy moisturizer works, though it's best to aim for very clean, low-synthetic formulas to avoid additional irritation.

This is where Wild Naturals Eczema & Psoriasis Cream comes into play. Not only is it tailor formulated for these skin conditions, but it’s a full line for face, body, and hair! With manuka honey as the main ingredient (for its healing, hydrating, antibacterial and itch-relieving properties), your skin is properly soothed from the start. With only natural ingredients including aloe vera, shea butter, coconut oil, and cehami flower extract, your skin will finally begin to repair and help reduce the severity of your psoriasis flares.

Shop the online store today to discover the true remedy of psoriasis!