My (Tried & Tested) Tips For Dealing With Psoriasis

I never thought the day would come where I would be writing a post on how to deal with psoriasis. I've had the disease for about a year now but it's been dormant for the last 6 months or so. I know I'm not a serious case but I know how uncomfortable and irritable the disease can be. When I first got diagnosed with psoriasis I was living in South Korea, so doctors couldn't give me an exact cause nor could they give me an exact remedy. At first I thought it was because of the language barrier, but then after thorough research I realized that it was just one of those diseases that doctors couldn't quite put their fingers on. 

Some of the major symptoms that I experienced:

- Dry and flaky skin. 

- Large ringworm-like lesions on my skin. 

- Excessive itch. 

The itch was the biggest thing for me. With the lesions and the bad skin I could always just cover up or try to conceal them, but with the itch there was hardly anything I could do. I did a lot of research on the disease but more specifically on how to combat the itch. Summer was fast approaching so I also wanted to know how to get rid of the horrid red patches all over my skin. 

After a lot of trial and error I found a few products which worked great for me and I still use them everyday religiously. That's what happens when you have a disease like this, it affects your life so much that you are desperately seeking a solution no matter what it takes. 

Here's what helped me:

1. UV Light Treatment 

I went for UV light treatment for a few months while living in Korea. I made a weekly trip to my dermatologist who assisted me with the treatment. My medical insurance covered half of my bills so all I had to pay was the balance of about W8,000 ($8 or R70) for every weekly visit. This is recommended as the number 1 treatment for psoriasis. However, when I returned to South Africa it wasn't very easy for me to find a dermatologist  who could provide me with such treatment. Also, I heard that it was quite expensive, so I had to find alternate solutions/ treatments. However, the few months of UV treatment really helped. 

2. Good Moisturizer 

This is another product which helped me a lot. Ideally, you want to go for a moisturizer that targets dry or very dry skin. That should be your number 1 focus. I don't have 'normal' skin so I ignored products for normal skin. I have dry skin and I needed to get my dry skin nourished. 

I used a few moisturizers in Korea, some containing essential oils and all that. At one point I was actually moisturizing twice with two different body lotions. The key is to keep your skin moisturized so that it is less likely to itch. Skin itches when it's dry so you want to keep it as nourished as possible. Of course the vitamins contained in some moisturizers assist in the general well-being of your skin. 

On my return to South Africa I tried creams and lotions containing cocoa butter and rich in vitamin E but none of them really helped. Eventually I found a great moisturizer by Dove which I've been using for the past couple of months. Again, you just want your skin to have life and to be alive. Moisture is key!!! 

3. A Good Petroleum Jelly (like Vaseline)

This has also been an amazing product which was initially prescribed to be my dermatologist. I don't use it as much because my skin has cleared up. I would apply this to the affected area and the petroleum jelly would absorb nicely into my skin- nourishing and moisturizing. 

4. Glycerine (Yep, that's right!) 

First impressions of glycerine? "Yuck!"  "I'm going to be sticky!" Well contrary to that, glycerine is sweet but not necessarily sticky. In fact, it's not sticky at all. I had a few itchy spots all over my body, mainly my joints which makes sense because psoriasis usually occurs around the joints. I would apply glycerine twice a day after my shower and it would keep the itch away. The key here again is moisturizing. Glycerine is obviously rich in moisture and so when you apply it to your skin it keeps your skin nourished for longer. 

5. Bee Natural Beeswax And Honey

This product is part of a range. It's all natural, consisting of honey, pollen, beeswax and some other things. The variation that I bought was specifically for eczema and skin ailments so try to find that one if you can. Alternatively, you can also just buy the general balm I'm sure it will also help. If you don't find this brand I'm sure you can find other brands which do the same thing. Beeswax and honey in general are great for psoriasis. 

Bee Natural  Body & Healing Balm. This is the 'general' balm but try to find the
specific balm for psoriasis and eczema. 

6. Avoid Heat (Like Hot Showers)

When your skin comes into contact with hot water it gets aggravated and can cause the psoriasis to get worse. So ideally, you want to keep as cool as possible. You want to prevent inflaming the lesions which will cause them to spread and to become itchy. Of course hot water will also cause your skin to become sensitive and when it's sensitive the psoriasis gets worse.

So these are my top 6 things. As I said before, this is what helped me. The disease may not be cured completely but for now it's amazing having clear non-itchy skin.

Feel free to comment or ask anything!!