More Than Just My Psoriasis

Living with a chronic condition can have a distinct ripple effect in our lives. No matter which one you are dealing with, it affects your life in so many ways and on so many levels. Living with and managing psoriasis is hard. It requires maintenance, that you do not always have the energy to sustain.

The thing is though, psoriasis doesn't define me. If I decide that I am more than my psoriasis, then I also have to make the decision to take care of the other parts of me too. However many of us, and I include myself in this “us”, allow priorities and other life tasks to slip for various reasons.

Taking care of my whole self

Psoriasis is many things - and one of those many things is high maintenance. This condition takes up a lot of time and space in our lives and in our minds. Keeping this all up is tiresome, to say the least.

We have to remember to take the medications and keep stock of all the right products just to get through normal day-to-day hygiene and skin routines. It takes so much time and effort to managing the normal daily tasks, track pain levels and find ways to maintain the brain fog that lies over our minds like a thick woolen blanket.

Some days, and especially in a flare, it is too painful or exhausting to get through the basics. So more often than not there are things that get left by the wayside. So what can we be done?

Consistency

For me, I find that It is important to try to add something extra into your daily routine that is focused on something other than your psoriasis. It could be a face mask, a foot soak, or even some exfoliation. It does not have to be every day, cause goodness knows that it would never get done.

Fit it in and prioritize it within your weekly schedule. Some days you will get more than one done and other days you will get none. That way they can balance out.

Set reminders!

How do we keep the momentum going? Simply put, how are we to remember to do these things? A small paper with a list placed in a place where you will see it every day is helpful. As you get your tasks done, mark them off.

What goes on this list you ask? Oh, I am so glad you did ask. Everything that you feel you neglect when you are not giving it your all. These are some of the things that I let slide that belongs on the list.

• Moisturizing parts of my body that do not have psoriasis.
• Doing a hair treatment (this could double up as beard treatments too)
• Face masks when my skin allows them, they are such a treat!
• Brushing my hair completely

More than my psoriasis

How we look after ourselves impacts how we feel about ourselves. When I look down and see the one clear part of my skin that is badly taken care of, I quickly spiral downwards and realize that for a week or more I have not been doing anything more than the bare minimum to get through the monotony of daily life.

However, if I want to be more than my psoriasis. Then I guess I need to do more than take care of just my psoriasis.