Cold Weather And Scalp Psoriasis

Cold weather. It’s back, obviously, because it’s winter, but I absolutely hate it. The ice-filled mornings, with the potential for a slip if heavy snow has fallen or temperatures fall below sub-zero, the need to put your woollies on and wrap up so warm you almost can’t breathe, and then there’s the impact on any ailments you have, such as psoriasis.

The winter does not help my psoriasis

Psoriasis is a dreadful condition to have, but it’s always made worse, for me, by damp, drizzly and cold weather. The icy starts and the strong, gusty winds feel very abrasive on my skin, including where my psoriasis patches are exposed to it, such as if I have it on my forehead, hands or around my eyelids.

In these places, during the winter months, I try and apply extra lotion and moisturiser to keep the areas well nourished. I also try and only wear cotton clothes and other non-irritant fabrics; this means my skin doesn’t crack or bleed as it rubs against the clothes.

One area where my skin has been flaring lately is in my scalp. Every so often I try and use coconut oil and soothe the plaques in my scalp so I can gently lift them, and this is more prevalent during the colder weather. I do this, in particular, when the scales are thick because it becomes a real problem when I go to my barber shop.

And while this helps, I also want to try other things to help my scalp psoriasis. But sometimes I am in two minds on whether to use a woolly hat or not while my scalp is flaring, for example. Don’t get me wrong, the hat provides good warmth to my head, but I notice the sides of the hat can really irritate my scalp psoriasis that is near the hairline. It’s not so much that it rubs constantly against it, it’s more the irritant feeling I get when I need to move my hat around. It just feels like the patches are being almost scratched in some way and I really want to avoid that.

I'm not enjoying winter so far

I also notice that when my hat has been on my head for a long time, say more than three or four hours, I need to incessantly itch my scalp. It’s like my psoriasis has truly been irritated in some way. I definitely think I prefer the summer when it comes to my skin and my scalp, in particular.

When I ask fellow sufferers, most say similar things about the cold weather and how much they dislike it for their condition. For them, they have arthritis and other conditions, and these play havoc with them during the winter months. Thankfully, I am quite a healthy man, so I don’t have these, but it concerns me for the future, particularly if my skin is in a bad way.

So, I am not enjoying winter. It hasn’t snowed much in the UK yet, but I imagine it will intensify as the colder months settle in and we enter the New Year. January and February can be terrible months for sub-zero and freezing weather in Britain and I never look for it anymore.

Slipping on ice can trigger a psoriasis flare to injured skin, so be careful. But in general, be kind to yourself this winter and keep going with your skin treatment regime. How do you find psoriasis and the winter?