Common Psoriasis Problems
There’s something about meeting someone who also has psoriasis that is very comforting. Finally there’s someone else in your circle of friends who understands what you’re dealing with. The common psoriasis problems we have to cope with, others don't have to think twice about in their everyday lives. For us, these can be daily struggles we have to get through.
Having to Plan How to Do Your Hair to Hide Your Psoriasis
For those who suffer from psoriasis that flares up on their back, neck, hairline, eyebrows, and all those annoyingly visible places, getting creative with hairstyles is a daily struggle to try and hide a flare-up.
Sometimes, when psoriasis appears in our eyebrows, we’ll try long bangs to hide it. If the psoriasis is all down our back or our neck, it’s definitely a long, flowing locks day. Putting your hair up in a bun is a luxury for those days when your skin is behaving itself. Sometimes they’re few and far between, so straighteners tend to become best friends to make sure our hair is always in check.
Deciding What to Wear in the Morning Is Harder Than Usual
For the same reason as deciding how to do our hair, sometimes we try to use clothing to mask a flare-up. Backless dresses are out when there’s a skin flare-up making an appearance on our back. Winter can be a blessing — wearing a scarf can hide any red scales on our neck, long pants can hide any patches on our knees, and coats can hide any elbow plaques.
Don’t get me started on black clothing! Whenever I decide to wear black, and there’s an ounce of psoriasis making an appearance on my body, it looks like I’ve had a serious dose of dandruff fall from my head onto my shoulders. It never makes for a good look.
Constantly Being Oily
I’m sure, like me, you’ve tried every lotion and potion in the book. In fact, you’ve probably chopped and changed between them when your psoriasis seems to become immune to one treatment. A downside that comes with most psoriasis treatments is that they can leave your skin feeling greasy.
Some days I’ll wash my hair and then have to apply scalp treatment, which promptly makes my hair oily. Moisturizer is also one of those products we’ll go through in truckloads to try to placate psoriasis. However, since we are constantly using it, our skin is always oily, and a bit sensitive.
The Pain and the Itch
I may have left this one quite a way down the list, but it is by far one of the experiences we all go through. Every time we have to move a body part that has a psoriasis flare-up, you can feel the skin stretch, the plaques crack a bit, and the pain is terrible.
It’s the same when we get a treatment under way, and the skin starts to heal — the itch is unbearable. Combine the two and it can really affect your mood.
Doctors Telling You You’re the Talk of the Coffee Room
On one trip to a new doctor when my psoriasis took over a huge amount of my skin, I was surprised to hear him tell me that I was the talk of the coffee room. I was told that none of the doctors could quite put their finger on what it was that was triggering my flare-ups, and they were all discussing it on their breaks.
Psoriasis is one of those conditions that can be very difficult to pinpoint why it happens, so it’s natural that people will question us and want to know more. It’s one of those things that we just have to brush off as human curiosity and answer questions if we feel like it.
People Asking You If You’ve Had a Bad Eyebrow Wax
For those of us that get psoriasis in our eyebrows, it can make them go bright red and look like we’ve had a terrible eyebrow wax. Strangely enough, this can be an easier excuse to use instead of trying to explain psoriasis to an oblivious party.
The Psoriasis-Stress Cycle
This one’s a biggie! For those of us who are sure that our psoriasis flares up when we get stressed, the psoriasis and stress cycle is a real thing. We get stressed, we get psoriasis. Then we get stressed about our psoriasis, which, in turn, brings on an even worse flare-up.
It’s so important to relax and stay calm when a flare-up rears its head. It’s difficult to do, but stressing out will only make it worse.
Referring to a Flare-Up as ‘My Psoriasis’
It’s almost like giving psoriasis a nickname can make it seem less scary and more manageable. Referring to psoriasis as ‘my psoriasis’ when talking to friends and family makes it a lot less scary for others to deal with as well, and they’re more likely to treat it as a quirk rather than a disease.
Realizing You Can’t Hide Forever
Even though some days psoriasis can make you want to curl up in a ball and hide under a blanket until it calms down, sometimes you do need to remind yourself that you can’t hide forever.
Psoriasis doesn’t change who you are, or affect your talents or skills, so when you feel up to it, make sure you get out your front door and do your thing!