What Causes Psoriasis to Bleed?

There are so many myths, mysteries, and stigmas that surround psoriasis. I received my diagnosis 15 years ago, at the age of 21. Still, every month I find myself learning something new about psoriasis. So it does not surprise me that there are things that so many people still do not know or understand.

Do we ever really ever know everything? I do not think so. When my skin cracks and bleeds, I'll often get those stares or comments asking why. "Isn't it just dry skin?" Cue the eye roll. Oh my goodness if I had a dollar every time someone said that out loud.

Yes, psoriasis does bleed.

There are a variety of reasons that might lead to psoriasis bleeding and quite a few different ways to manage it. I will list a few below, just to offer a little more understanding.

Thinning skin

Using topical corticosteroids is a common treatment for psoriasis. Using these topicals excessively or for long periods of time can cause your skin to thin substantially. As a result of this, a minor bump on a sharp edge can cause your skin to bust open and bleed.

Excessively dry skin

Moisturizing is a daily routine for most of us. It assists in lifting and removing dead and excess skin cells. It also restores moisture in your skin. Hydration can help reduce the itchiness too. When you skip this vital part of your day for a few days, you could cause a severe build-up of dead skin and dehydration of the skin cells. This could lead to cracking skin which can easily bleed.

Scratching that itch

There are very few things in the world that annoy me as much as an itch that will not go away. This is one of the reasons I have always found it so ironic that I got psoriasis. Some days and even nights my self-control are not what it should be. The itch simply becomes one too much for me and I have a good scratch. Generally, because the dead skin is not yet ready to evicted at such short notice, the build-up will tear away from the healthy skin and this will cause bleeding.

Keeping it clean

It is vitally important to keep any small cuts and cracks clean. Skin infection in a small cut and crack wound could cause serious harm. My go-to when my skin cracks open and bleeds, is to make sure it is clean, and keep it covered while it is healing.

A barrier cream can also help keep the wound clean while it is healing. Liquid bandages are also fabulous and they do not aggravate the skin as much as normal plasters do. It could take a time or two to get used to using the liquid bandages.