Whether your skin needs medical, surgical or cosmetic treatment, trust the expert care of a board-certified dermatologist.
If you have Psoriasis, you are not alone. Millions of people live with this chronic (long-lasting) condition. Some people who have psoriasis develop a type of arthritis known as psoriatic arthritis. Learning about both these conditions can help you manage this disease and improve your quality of life.
Researchers have learned that a person’s immune system and genes play important roles in developing psoriasis. It seems that many genes must interact to cause this condition.
While you may have a blood relative who has psoriasis, scientists have learned that not everyone who inherits genes for psoriasis gets it. For it to appear, it seems that you must inherit the right mix of genes and be exposed to a trigger. Further research is needed to identify which specific genes cause this skin disorder.
Most people typically develop psoriasis between the ages of 15-25, although it can begin at any age. This condition affects men and women equally, and it occurs in all races.
Different people have different triggers. Common triggers include stress, strep throat, a bad sunburn, or a trauma to the skin. For some people, the disease flares about 10 to 14 days after they injure their skin. Smoking and obesity can be triggers. Some medications can be triggers, including lithium, interferon, drugs taken to lower blood pressure and some medications taken to prevent malaria.
Typically, new skin cells form over several weeks. With psoriasis, new cells are made too quickly and build up into raised pink plaques with silver-white scales
It is not contagious and cannot be spread from person to person. You cannot catch it from someone else, or from touching a psoriasis patch.
There are different types of psoriasis. Each type appears differently on the skin.
This is a type of arthritis that can occur if you have psoriasis. The first sign of arthritis is frequently swollen, stiff, and sometimes painful joints when waking up. If these signs of arthritis start to happen, contact your dermatologist right away.
Like psoriasis, this arthritis is a lifelong condition. If the arthritis worsens, the affected joins can weaken. This is why it is so important to tell a dermatologist about joint problems. Treatment for this arthritis may include physical therapy, arthritis-friendly exercise and medicine. There are medicines that can prevent psoriatic arthritis from worsening.
Dermatologists make diagnoses by examining your skin, nails, and scalp. Sometimes a dermatologist may need to perform a biopsy to make the diagnosis, which involves removing a small piece of skin or nail. The removed skin will be sent to a lab where it will be examined under a microscope.
A single medical test is not available to diagnose this type of arthritis. To find out if you have arthritis, your dermatologist will ask you questions about your psoriasis, such as whether any of your blood relatives have these conditions. They will ask you questions about fatigue, pain, stiffness and tenderness in your joints and tendons, and swelling of your fingers. They will also examine your joints and may send you for medical tests such as x-rays and blood tests to determine if you have arthritis.
No one blood test can tell whether you have arthritis. Lab testing can confirm if you have inflammation throughout your body as is seen in many people who have both psoriasis and related arthritis. Other blood tests can tell your dermatologist if you have other forms of arthritis that may look like psoriatic arthritis.
Having psoriasis increases your risk for certain other health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and heart disease. As a result, it is important for you to monitor your health very closely for signs of these diseases, especially if you have a severe condition of this skin disorder. Talking with both your dermatologist and your primary care doctor can ensure that signs of these other conditions can be caught early and treated properly.
Once psoriasis appears, it does not go away on its own. Treatment can clear plaques and reduce symptoms in many people but it does not cure the disease.
Because the disease can be stubborn, finding the right treatment can take time. Your dermatologist may recommend more than one type of treatment or use a combination of treatments to see the best results. Also, treatments may stop working, so other treatments are needed.
It is important to remember that no matter what treatment you and your dermatologist choose, you should use it exactly as prescribed. Many treatments can produce unwanted side effects. You and your dermatologist will discuss the benefits and risks of a possible treatment to determine what is best for you.
There are different kinds of treatment:
Psoriasis is a long-lasting disease. Here are some things you can do that will help you take control:
Taking an active role in managing your psoriasis or arthritis can make a big difference in improving your health, reducing the appearance of plaques and the pain of arthritis, and improving your overall quality of life. Your dermatologist can be a partner in helping you find the treatments that work best for you.