There’s No Cure For Psoriasis

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Psoriasis can’t be cured, but treatments help reduce symptoms. These include special creams and medicines, plus phototherapy and other therapies. No one knows what causes psoriasis, but it happens when something triggers your immune system to go into overdrive.

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Your skin cells grow too fast and build up on the surface of your skin — which causes it to crack, bleed, and flake. Symptoms can cover large areas of your body.

What is psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a long-term condition that causes thick, scaly patches of skin. It develops when your immune system mistakes healthy cells for invaders and grows them faster than they should. The overgrowth of skin creates scaly, red patches that may itch and bleed. The patches can be anywhere on the body, but they often appear on the knees, elbows, scalp, and trunk. They can also affect the joints. Other symptoms of psoriasis include itchy, pitted and discoloured nails. The condition can be mild or severe and comes and goes in cycles.

Scientists do not know exactly what causes psoriasis, but they think it is a combination of factors. Your genes make you more likely to get the condition, and something about your environment can trigger a flare-up. This could be a cold, stress, injury, certain medicines, or infection.

There are several types of psoriasis, but plaque psoriasis is the most common. It appears as dry, raised patches of red skin covered with silvery scales. The patches are usually large, but they can be smaller on some people. Guttate psoriasis is less common and appears as small spots of reddish skin without scales. Pustular psoriasis is rare and causes pus-filled blisters on the hands, feet or other small areas of skin. Psoriasis can occur in any skin tone.

Symptoms

There’s no cure for psoriasis, but treatments help reduce symptoms. They can include skin lotions, ointments and creams. Other therapies include medications, and even pills that change how your immune system works. Diet and lifestyle changes can also help.

The most common type of psoriasis is plaque psoriasis. It shows up as red, 서면피부과 thick patches of skin covered with silvery scales. These patches often appear on the elbows, knees, scalp, but they can be anywhere on the body. They may itch and crack. People with psoriasis have a high risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, which is a form of inflammatory arthritis.

Guttate psoriasis is the least common type of psoriasis. It usually appears in children and has many small spots of red, raised skin. It’s thought to be an autoimmune condition and isn’t contagious.

Less common types of psoriasis are inverse psoriasis, which has lesions that don’t have the silvery scales of plaque psoriasis, and erythrodermic psoriasis, which causes widespread inflammation across the body.

Some people with psoriasis also have itchy, red pus-filled blisters on their palms and soles. This is called pustular psoriasis. This type of psoriasis can affect anyone, but it’s more common in people with diabetes and those who are overweight or have skin folds. Pustular psoriasis can be very painful and dangerous. It increases the risk of serious infection and can lead to serious complications like a heart attack or stroke.

Diagnosis

There is no one test to diagnose psoriasis, but your healthcare provider will look at the patches of red, irritated skin that cause scaling. He or she will also ask about your symptoms and family history of psoriasis.

If you have plaque psoriasis, the most common type of this condition, you will probably have thick patches of skin that are covered by silver-white scales. These patches usually appear on your elbows, knees, scalp, or other parts of the body, but they can be anywhere. The skin patches may crack and bleed, and they can be itchy.

A dermatologist — a doctor who specializes in skin conditions — can often identify psoriasis by examining the affected area of your skin. Your healthcare provider will note the location, distribution, and size of your lesions, as well as how they change over time. Your doctor will ask if anyone in your family has had psoriasis and whether you have any other symptoms, such as pain or swelling in your joints (psoriatic arthritis).

If he or she suspects that you have psoriasis, your healthcare provider may take a small sample of skin to send to the lab for testing. This is known as a skin biopsy. Your doctor will numb your skin with a local anesthetic before taking the sample. You may also have other tests, such as blood work and X-rays of your joints.

Treatment

There’s no cure for psoriasis, but treatments can reduce the appearance of the skin patches and ease symptoms. Your doctor will examine you and ask questions about your symptoms and any triggers. They may refer you to a dermatologist (a doctor who specialises in skin problems) or to a rheumatologist if your joints are affected.

It’s not known what causes psoriasis, but the immune system seems to get triggered and start producing new skin cells too quickly. The overgrowth of these cells forms the dry, scaly plaques. Psoriasis can also raise your risk of a number of other health conditions, including heart disease and diabetes, and make you more likely to have depression or anxiety.

Your doctor might do a skin biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. They’ll remove a small piece of skin and look at it under a microscope to check for psoriasis. They might also take a blood sample to test for other diseases that can cause similar symptoms, such as lupus.

Treatment for psoriasis usually starts with medications that you put on your skin. These include steroid creams and ointments, which slow skin cell growth and reduce inflammation. Light therapy is another common treatment. The doctor might use a special light or give you pills that contain a type of sunlight. The most effective treatment is a combination of medication and phototherapy, called psoralen plus ultraviolet A radiation (PUVA). This can help speed up healing and reduce itching and swelling.