Psoriasis: Nine tips for prevention and treatment

Birdseye — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:30:00 GMT

Psoriasis is a chronic and distressing skin disorder afflicting around 80 million people worldwide.

Typically, it shows up as thickened red areas covered with silvery scales, usually on the scalp, elbows, knees, back and buttocks. It can also affect fingernails and toenails. The patches usually flare up periodically and symmetrically on both sides of the body. Read more about the condition here.

I’ve been trawling the blogosphere, as well as WDDTY’s archive, to find the best tips on the prevention and treatment of psoriasis. Do you know any others? Why don’t you share your tips by commenting on this article.

PSORIASIS PREVENTION

1. Do not smoke and limit your consumption of alcohol, as one study indicated that smoking may have triggered up to half the cases of palmoplantar pustular psoriasis (WDDTY: Psoriasis: most due to smoking)

2. Stress is a major cause of psoriasis, so try to maintain a stress-free lifestyle. If there is a threat of suffering from stress, follow the advice in our article on ‘Countering stress’ to combat it.

3. Limit your consumption of alcohol, as research suggests that heavy drinking can trigger psoriasis and even reduce the efficacy of treatments (ajaysharma: Psoriasis)

4. Try to avoid using Beta blockers, which can exacerbate psoriasis or trigger the development of first lesions (Psoriasis Popular: Psoriasis triggers)

PSORIASIS TREATMENT

5. Follow a diet containing plenty of fish oils, which contain components that can calm the inflammation experienced by psoriasis sufferers. (WDDTY: Psoriasis: fish oil cure)

6. Make sure you get daily doses of natural sunlight to increase vitamin D levels… but don’t get burnt (WDDTY: Psoriasis – What to do instead)

7. Drink wheat grass juice, which has reportedly helped to treat numerous conditions including arthritis, asthma, constipation and psoriasis (bryn blog: Wheat Grass – A Miracle Medicine)

8. Consider Chinese herbal medicine, which has been shown to have a positive effect on those suffering from skin conditions (WDDTY: Alternative therapies for psoriasis)

9. Eat flax seeds or take a flax seed supplement, which can relieve symptoms of psoriasis because of their high levels of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids (How to be Healthy: Your Skin Can Benefit From Taking Flax Seed)

Birdseye: Health Tips from the Blogosphere : smoking

Psoriasis: Nine tips for prevention and treatment