Skin Care Tips For Psoriasis
As we wind our way through September – we wanted to spotlight a condition that we come across fairly often at the salon.
In this blog post, we’ll give you some details on Psoriasis, what some of the triggers might be, and skincare tips for people prone to it.
If you’d like to learn even more about the condition, you can visit the Psoriasis Association here. You can also donate to them, which helps research the causes and care for people with Psoriasis.
When Psoriasis Flares Up:
Psoriasis is considered an auto-immune disease which essentially means that your immune system believes it’s being attacked and tries to fend off anything negative but causes damage to itself.
Psoriasis is centred around different parts of the body for different people; in mild cases, this might be on the elbows, knees, scalp or face in small patches. In harsher cases, the patches will cover large portions of the skin.
It looks like scaly or rough patches of white skin cells. It can also be red and inflamed if irritated. Psoriasis is not a contagious condition, and the flare-up intensity ranges from person to person.
Interestingly, if you are someone that tends to get Psoriasis from time to time, you will have ticked the box on the forms at the vaccination centre, and the nurse/doctor will likely have explained that you might see a flare-up from the vaccine.
Did you know that Psoriasis can get worse with;
Skin injury, wounds or infection – including sunburn.
Stress.
Smoking, alcohol and caffeine.
Tattoos and vaccinations.
Seasonal changes: Colder temperatures, harsh winds, central heating and dry air reduce the natural moisturising factors (NMFs), leading to dehydration, roughness and flakiness. In addition to exacerbating dry skin conditions such as eczema and Psoriasis.
Hormones: Oestrogen and progesterone levels decline as women get older, resulting in dry skin, even in people who have never suffered from the condition before. In this instance, the issue may need to be addressed internally as well as topically.
Those with Psoriasis might already know of their common triggers and try to avoid them, but with something like a vaccine or hormone fluctuations, it’s not as easy to avoid.
What can you do to help your skin?
We’re always singing the praises of moisturising and hydrating your skin for a good reason, but there is such a thing as too much when it comes to skin moisture. Skin is very reactive to its environment, perfect for changing weather conditions and keeping our body temperature at the correct heat. However, adding things to the skin such as moisturiser can also hamper the skins ability to protect itself. The overuse of heavily based creams can stop the body from producing its natural oily protectant as it considers the job done when you’ve added a topical product like a moisturiser.
If you continue this for a more extended period, your skin can get used to having the moisturiser applied, leading to problems with hydration, thus exacerbating Psoriasis symptoms.
What moisturises should you be using?
We suggest a Vitamin A cream like Environ® AVST Moisturisers or Youth EssentiA® Vita-Peptide C-Quence Serums (quite a mouthful, we know!). This isn’t going to stop the production of extra cells from Psoriasis, but it can help with the symptoms you might encounter, such as tearing and itching if you’d like any more information about this and the best way to use it, speak to us at the salon.
Exfoliation for Psoriasis prone skin
Psoriasis can be a confidence hit, especially if you get it in quite apparent areas such as the face, hands, or scalp. It might feel like the best way to deal with the skin is to exfoliate the skin or even pick at it to get rid of the excess skin cells.
The one thing that you need to keep in mind with exfoliating the skin is to be gentle with it. Psoriasis is widespread in areas where the skin is thinner – under the eyes or in between fingers are prime examples – when you exfoliate these areas too much or use a product that’s too abrasive, it can rip/tear the skin very quickly. In turn, this can make Psoriasis flare up even more in the area we don’t want.
What you can use is something like Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs). It’s used in Environ’s Alpha Hydroxy Cream, which helps with your skins natural exfoliation process. This comes in a gel format which you gently rub into the skin, then apply your moisturiser afterwards – no need to wash off. Always be gentle with skin that suffers from Psoriasis.
A quick note about cleansing
Use a gentle cleanser or hydrating cleanser such as Environ’s Youth Essentia Hydra Intense Cleanser. Remember to avoid using wipes, as these are notorious for drying out the skin.
At-home assistance for Psoriasis
One of the things that we like to do alongside giving you all the juicy details on the latest skincare technology is letting you know a little about how the skin works. There is no quick and easy cure for Psoriasis, and the tools that we are suggesting you use in this post should be done alongside some at-home treatments that you will most likely already be aware of!
We do two things at home that can impact your skin and its health status; these are drinking water and eating a varied diet.
For many of us, it’s so easy to forget to drink the right amount of water as we default to tea/coffee or delicious fizzy drinks. Whilst you’re at work, make sure that you are getting up and grabbing a drink every hour or so. Ideally, you’ll be getting about six to eight glasses of water in a day. If water is a little boring for your tastes, you can mix it up with fruits or even drink sparkling water. Drinking coffee and tea does work towards your daily water goal, BUT caffeine is also a diuretic, meaning you need to use the toilet a lot more, leading you to let a lot of that water you’ve ingested go. Water is excellent for the skin, so try and stick to the habit.
A varied diet also significantly impacts your skins’ ability to regenerate and clear up – the main reason for this is vitamins. One of the best ways to improve your skin is by getting a range of vitamins into you through your veggies. The amount suggested by the NHS is at least 400 grams of fruit/veg a day.
If you like your fruit, make sure that you keep the split to 30/70, with vegetables being the majority (fruit naturally has a lot of sugar in it, which we don’t want to be overdoing for the skin). When you look at how much 400 grams of veggies is, you might be shocked at how little veggies/fruit you eat. If you notice the difference is enormous, take it in small steps and start adding a bit of veg here and there to each meal.
Now, the annoying part about veggies is that for some vitamins, we physically can’t eat enough of them to get all the nutrients that we want which is why supplements are often suggested as an addition to eating more veggies. Read more about this in the next section.
What products will benefit my skin?
There are a few different ways you can supplement your skin to help Psoriasis. An important one to have is an excellent probiotic. Skin Clear Biome by Advanced Nutrition Programme is what we suggest to our clients at the salon. The supplements work on a 28-day cycle which aims to help your body through the gut microbiome.
Did you know that many skin-related issues relate to problems with bacteria in your gut?
If you’re interested, you can read more about it here.
This supplement is taken once a day and contains vital vitamins, minerals and strains of bacteria that help to support your gut health and, therefore, your skin. The supplement also contains zinc which is excellent for healing broken skin!
Treatments to help Psoriasis
If you have Psoriasis, you might have noticed a difference in your flare up during the summer months or when you spend some time in the sun.
We offer Dermalux LED treatment which does something similar to the skin as natural light does. This is a non-invasive procedure that we can do in our treatment rooms at the salon. The process includes using light waves that the skin absorbs – this helps the skin cells renew and treat a myriad of skin troubles, including the main one we’re talking about today, Psoriasis.
If you’re worried about skin sensitivity or pain, then this is the best option for you. The light from the Dermalux LED doesn’t cause any abrasion to the skin and is helps broken skin heal faster.
As always, we’re more than happy to chat with you about finding your ideal products; we’re here to help. Either pop in our Maidenhead salon or give us a ring on 01628 298040.
