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“Psoriasis can sometimes be mitigated or prevented by working hard to avoid triggers and by addressing the condition early with targeted therapy. When you have psoriasis, it’s important to follow the advice of your primary care doctor and dermatologist. There’s still a lot you can do on your own to help prevent flares. One key is using moisturizing lotions. Symptoms actually will worsen when your skin is dry. So keeping it moist with creams and lotions is really important. Using thick and oily moisturizers like petrolatum jelly are usually best. They’re typically better at trapping moisture beneath the skin. To help remove scaling, apply cream on top of them, and then cover the area with a plastic wrap or another waterproof material. It’s best to leave it on for a few hours and then remove it. Another important item is to take care of your skin and your scalp.
Be careful with your skin, do not pick at patches or scales as this may actually worsen your psoriasis. Trim your nails and use caution when touching things, so that you don’t scratch unnecessarily. If you cut yourself or traumatize the skin, it might actually make symptoms flare. This is a process known as [?]. If you have psoriasis on your scalp, rub your topical treatments, such as tar shampoos, into the scalp. Regular bathing with soothing products, such as char solutions might also help to bring relief. Avoiding cold and dry weather is also important. Climate can actually have a big effect on psoriasis. For many people, cold and dry weather might actually make symptoms worse. Hot weather usually makes it better, but not all the time. Using a humidifier is also important and helpful at keeping the skin moist. Turn on the humidifier when the air inside your house is actually dry. Avoid medications that can cause flares. Let your doctor know about all the medications you take, even the ones that are over the counter. These can actually affect your psoriasis. Drugs that are known to make things worse include lithium, which is used to treat psychiatric disorders, propranolol and other beta blockers, which are prescribed for heart conditions, quinidine, a medication used for irregular heartbeat. If you’re on any of these medications, ask your doctor about possible substitutes. These and other drugs can help trigger psoriasis flares.”
