The Day-To-Day Difficulties of Living with Psoriasis

I’ve lived with psoriasis for a long time. It started on my scalp, but spread to cover most of my body. At times, it really got me down and upset, but since starting my biologic injection, I have felt a new boost to my life; I feel happier and I am looking forward to the future.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ongoing day-to-day difficulties that come with living with an incurable skin condition such as psoriasis. At my worst, I had bathroom cupboards and shelves filled with all sorts of treatments and medications. From moisturizers and emollients to coal-tar shampoos and coconut oil.

Some treatments can be effective, but some aren't

True, I found some of these effective. Coconut oil, for example, soothes my scalp psoriasis plaques and makes it easier when I’m preparing for my barber’s appointment to remove any troublesome scales. Moisturizing, meanwhile, helps reduce itching and does lessen the redness to my patches. But these are not fixes. They do not get rid of the patches. They give me temporary relief and are ways of making my life better and more pleasurable in the short term. Plus, the amount of room these treatments can take up in your home can be huge.

Then there’s the issue of having patches cover wide areas of the body or perhaps the entirety of the body from head to toe. This is one area of living with this condition that I particularly despise. Why? Because it takes time to apply the moisturizers and emollients in the morning, throughout the day and at night. And as I’ve said previously, the relief is temporary. It does relieve the itching and redness but does not completely get rid of the lesion, so you can often feel like your work is pointless because you have to keep doing it.

I have struggled for years

Then there’s the bleeding. If your patches are particularly large or scaly, it may bleed when you itch or because you wear certain clothes. Scratching a patch may leave blood stains on your T-shirts or trousers and you may spend considerable time before getting dressed in the morning worrying about suitable colors or fabrics which reduce either the visibility of the stains or your likelihood to scratch in the first place.

Another problem: studying and working. I haven’t had much of a nuisance when it comes to my psoriasis and studying or working, but I know people who have been negatively affected. The patches may crack if they’re in particularly bothersome places like between the folds. So, it can be difficult.

Overall, there’s a day-to-day impact of living with psoriasis and experiencing a flare-up. Your home may be taken up by numerous products and you may struggle with the general itching and bleeding of the plaques. My advice would be to never give up. I, like you, struggled with this condition for years, but I am now at my most happiest thanks to years of trial and error in an attempt to find the right medication for me. Now I am on the right road, I am not coming off it.