A slightest scar on your face wrecks havoc on your self confidence; imagine the potential of a body covered with red-ugly patches.
Psycho-Physical Effects of Psoriasis
Although the physical manifestation of the disease in itself is enough to put the patient in great discomfort, it is its psychological effects that have a larger bearing over a person’s life.
• Psoriasis can cause severe ache accompanied with an uncontrolled temptation to itch. This might cause the skin to give way to fissures resulting in bleeding.
• Too frequent instances of bleeding can render it impossible for the patient to concentrate on work or studies and even carry out the otherwise routine activities such as playing, and leading a socially active life.
• Psychologically, those suffering from the ailment are always ill at ease. Due to continuous fear of social rejection, they develop a very low self image. This can, on a long run, give way to serious depression
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What is Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic but non-contagious medical condition that occurs when skin cells multiply quicker than they are meant to, causing the access skin to pile up in the form of visible red patches on the surface of the skin.
It is a form of autoimmune disease, triggered by some faulty signals in one’s immune system causing new skin cells to form even before the old ones are discarded.
The disease tends to be highly erratic in nature for it is often reported to improve or worsen for no perceptible reason. The severity of a sufferer, however, may vary greatly from trivial looking localized patches to complete body coverage.
Causes of Psoriasis
Despite years of painstaking research, the exact reason for the occurrence of psoriasis is still not fully understood by medicine practitioners. The most common and widespread belief among doctors is that the disease is essentially a disorder of the immune system.
Our body’s immune system is regulated by the white blood cells present in the blood. These are responsible for protecting the body against any external threat in the form of diseases. Psoriasis occurs when the ‘T cells’, a kind of white blood cells, multiply at an abnormally high rate, causing the skin cells to grow faster than required. This results into the development of a patchy skin.
However, some people are born with an increased predisposition for psoriasis, since they carry it in their genes. This only puts them at a higher risk of falling prey to Psoriasis.
Factors Triggering Psoriasis
There are a few factors that are potentially capable of either triggering off the disease or worsening it further. These include:
• Skin Injury: Skin injury of any kind can set off psoriasis in a person who has inherited the ailment in his genes. Even a simple act like excessive scratching can activate the disease.
• Sunlight: A majority of psoriasis patients consider sunlight to be immensely helpful in curing their condition; however, there are a few in whose case sunlight has proved to be detrimental rather than helpful.
• Smoking and Drinking: Research has established that those who have taken to fag and booze are on a higher risk of psoriasis.
• Hormonal Changes: Psoriasis is also extremely receptive to hormonal changes in an individual. Hence, the frequency has been observed to flare up when the patient is passing through menopause or puberty. It is interesting to note that the symptoms gradually improve with the onset of pregnancy and may worsen during the postpartum period.
• Stress: The symptoms of psoriasis show a direct relationship with the level of stress. Hence, the more a patient worries about the disease, the more his condition is expected to deteriorate.
Medical Treatment: the Psoriasis Treatment Ladder
It is mainly the erratic nature of the disease, along with its unpredictable re-occurrence, that has been such a massive hindrance in treating it.
The treatment is most often initiated with the medication involving the least adverse effect or toxicity, subsequently followed by a more severe option if the desired results are not achieved. This is termed as the psoriasis treatment ladder.
The first step of this ladder is the use of locally applied ointments and creams, called the topical treatment methods. The most commonly used topical treatments include the use of vitamin D cream, coal tar, corticosteroids, tree bark extracts such as anthralin and topical retinoid.
Psoriasis has a tendency to become resistant to a particular kind of treatment over time and hence a change in the treatment course may be required. Due to this reason, continuous analysis of the disease is of utmost importance.
In case the symptoms worsen, the next obvious step would be to put the patient on phototherapy, which involves the use of ultra violet light to treat the symptoms. As the last resort, the sufferer might be put on certain pills or injections, called the systemic treatment method.
Non Conventional Treatment Approaches
Apart from these conventional approaches numerous non medical approaches are available, which have become extremely popular with time. These time-honored techniques involve:
• Doctor Fish
The outdoor spas located in Turkey, Ireland and Croatia, countries that are home to a psoriasis curative fish called the doctor fish, have gained immense fame in the recent past. This fish is known to survive on the psoriasis-affected skin and hence completely relieves the patient of his hideous red patches.
But since red patched tend to reappear, a revisit to these spas, in a few months is warranted.
• Climatotherapy
This therapy has roots in the belief that certain diseases can be cured by simply dwelling in a different kind of climate. The climate around the Dead Sea is often thronged with patients suffering from different ailments including psoriasis in hope of finding a permanent cure for their condition.
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