Friction – A Friend Or An Enemy To Psoriasis?

My psoriasis journey has made me learn a lot of things over these past 56 years. I will continue to keep sharing my experience, feelings, and thoughts with you. You are not alone in this. We are warriors who will evolve this one day. I’m sure of this. For that, we need to become each other’s strength. I want to share more of what I have learned on my psoriasis journey.

Psoriasis on the hands and feet

For those who are unaware, psoriasis can attack your hands and feet. This can cause friction. Your palms and feet become scaly with patches. This area gets excessive itching. Bleeding and cracking of the skin, and pain on top of all. I have had to take sharp objects to scratch to get some relief. Please don't do this. The skin covering the area of palms and feet gets extremely rough, dry, and thick. This makes it difficult to do daily tasks. Not being able to move anything is the worst part of psoriasis on hands and feet.

Some days I used to have trouble moving around. The skin was painful around that area. My hands were all bruised and looked like someone put some acid on my hands. They would bleed a lot. I never had blisters on my hands and feet. Can you imagine not being able to touch yourself with my hands or put your feet on ground. This would be difficult for me.

Don't scratch!

If psoriasis ever attacks your hand and feet, I have a piece of friendly advice for my psoriasis warriors. Avoid anything that causes friction and don’t scratch. You should even avoid touching your own self unnecessarily. There is one straightforward rule for psoriasis: the more you disturb the affected area of the skin, the more it will worsen.

To avoid the worst condition which is the formation of blisters on feet and palm. Try and avoid causing friction to your palm and feet. You must be wondering how one can avoid friction? Do few activities for a few days. Stop trying to walk around the world with dried and torn skin on your feet. It won’t do any good for your psoriasis.

Remember to be gentle

Try and rest and get a good night’s sleep. Avoid anything that causes friction. Apart from that, you can help your hands and feet with vitamin D ointments and moisturizers. Back in the day, we couldn’t afford moisturizers. Please don’t laugh. I grew up on a farm. My parents would use lard and a salve they used on cows to put one me. It gave me some relief. Try sealing the cracks with a liquid bandage and moisturizing throughout the day. Thick moisturizer worked best for me. Vaseline has been in my life for over 50 years.

Don't be harsh to your skin. Be very gentle. Most importantly, keep an eye on observing what causes flare-ups. Find products that can help your body fight. We don't want to add to our own misery. Keep fighting and get plenty of rest.