People that suffer from psoriasis do everything in their power to keep the condition in check. They avoid their known triggers and take appropriate medicine as well as avoid psychological stress to minimize the flare-ups.
Treatments other than the medication itself are equally important to containing psoriasis. This is because stress and psoriasis are linked rather intricately. Given that this is basically a genetic disease, environmental triggers like stressful events often triggers it, said an excerpt from American Academy of Dermatology. Psoriasis in itself is a stressful condition, and taking stress apart from that can trigger chronic flare ups. This is why management of stress is a key component for treating Psoriasis.
Immune system, stress, and Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a type skin inflammation conditions. While researchers and doctors don’t completely understand what causes it, but it generally occurs when your immune system turns against the body. This causes skin cells to grow rather rapidly and abnormally. Since stress has a significant impact on our immune system, doctors have suspected this link with stress for a long time, and recent research proves this theory.
Psoriasis is extremely sensitive to stress. It tends to flare up rather easily when those suffering are stressed out, and the symptoms begin to improve when relaxed. Most people that have psoriasis have one thing in common; their very first outbreak is around the time they were going through a difficult period in their lives.
Stress Related to Psoriasis
This condition itself can be a difficult problem, sometimes stressful depending on which part of the body it has decided to flare up. This makes the treatment for this condition rather tricky. Due to its unappealing symptoms, for much Psoriasis is a stigmatizing condition. People suffering from this condition avoid wearing warmer clothes in the winter and prefer sweating in their full sleeves shirts to hide their skin. Being worried and feeling self-conscious of these physical symptoms increase emotional stress that cause flare ups even more.
Stress Management in Psoriasis
In order to keep Psoriasis in check, doctors recommend stress management as an effective way to counter it. For starters, regular exercise is perhaps the best way to relieve stress along with offering you innumerable health benefits. Most patients prefer exercise as a stress reliever as most find it an enjoyable activity. Other stress relievers include pilates, yoga and meditation.
Those suffering from psoriasis should also identify their behaviors and triggers that relate with stress. Drugs and alcohol that people use to reduce their stress actually make the psoriasis symptoms worse. A lot can be said about managing addictive behaviors such as these. Your stress escaping rituals like smoking and alcohol further aggravate the condition adding to its severity.
Identifying these sources of stress can significantly aid you in keeping the symptoms in check, but you don’t have to fight this battle alone. Building and strengthening a support system can be paramount to coping with a condition as chronic as this. Counseling may yield promising results as well if stress reducing techniques aren’t enough for you.