• What is psoriasis?

Psoriasis (say "sor-eye-ah-sus") is a very common skin disorder. Over 7 million people in the United States have it. It is a skin condition that affects your skin and causes thick red , silvery scales and flaky skin patches to form. The thick scaling is probably due to an increase in the number of skin cells. Sometimes pus-filled blisters form. Most of the time, the skin on the elbows and knees is affected, but psoriasis can occur anywhere on the body, including the scalp, fingernails and mouth, and even the skin over the joints.
In mild cases, psoriasis affects a few areas; in severe cases, it can be over your whole body.
It can get better or worse, but there's no cure. But proper treatment can control the disease so it doesn't bother you so much.  
 

• What causes psoriasis?

No one knows exactly what causes psoriasis.  It's not caused by something you ate or something you're allergic to.   The reason your skin becomes thick and red is that the skin cells are growing faster than normal. Because of their rapid growth, there isn't enough time for the cells to shed (fall off). As a result, the cells pile up on top of each other, making thick, scaly patches on your skin.

•  Is it contagious?

Anyone can get psoriasis. Men, women, children and people of all races get psoriasis.  Psoriasis is not contagious therefore, you can't catch psoriasis from another person or give it to someone by touching them, and you can't spread it to other parts of your body.
The disease sometimes runs in families.

• What makes psoriasis worse?
  Some things that can make psoriasis worse are stress and infections. Some medicines can make it worse, too. These medicines include lithium, and certain high blood pressure medicines, such as beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, as well as pain relievers like some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen).

 

• What treatments are available for psoriasis?

Keeping your skin moisturized with only NATURAL products is a good first step. Choose a moisturizer (lotion or cream) that is hypoallergenic (it should say so on the label). The best moisturizers are also the thickest and have a very rich emollient level such as shea butter.  Creams containing the vitamins C, A and E have a great therapeutic effect on healing and skin restoration as well as soothing Chamomille, Comfrey and Calendula Herbal Extracts. These include moisturizing creams and shampoos for scalp psoriasis.   Special shampoos are used for psoriasis on the scalp.

The scales of psoriasis should improve almost immediately after you begin treatment. It may take several weeks for the affected areas of your skin to return to a more normal thickness and for the redness to dissipate.