Nail Psoriasis
I have always taken pride in having nails like my mom. Her nails were a site to behold and always perfect. With or without nail polish, they were smooth with crisp white tips that loved to be dipped in red nail polish. When I was 21, I was diagnosed with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Never did I consider for a single minute that it would affect my nails. I mean, it is a skin thing after all. Oh ignorance, you are so blissful. A few years later, I understood so much more about psoriasis and all the many things that come with it. Nail psoriasis is a real kicker and it is the one thing I have not ever been to treat successfully.
Still, I search in the hope of finding something that will help me, and in turn, I could share it with the people around me who also suffer.
Symptoms of nail psoriasis
Sounds strange, doesn’t it? You almost expect to see patches of red and silver on top of the nail. No my loves, it is nothing of the sort. Some of the popular signs are raised nails. Yes, I mean right off the nail bed. Some people will even lose their nails.
Ridges that run across the length of your nails are common and can look like the nail was folded and left to dry. Pitting is where your nail looks like lots of tiny holes have been drilled in the top. They will often collect dirt and dust and resemble black spots. You can experience one or more of these at a time. My symptoms have no order to their chaos and seem to come and go as they please. Leaving in their wake, a very frustrated human.
The pain of nail psoriasis
This is something I was unprepared for. Your nail is a very small surface area compared to the rest of your body. Let me tell you, there are few things as painful as having a flare of nail psoriasis. It hurts so much. When you work with your hands every day, it can prove to be such a challenge.
For instance, if you type a lot as I do, man oh man, that is a painful situation. If I had to put it into words, I would say it is a bit like the feeling of having nagged your nails in a door real hard.
Commentary about nail psoriasis
Isn’t it funny how so many people seem to be so sure that your nail psoriasis is in fact not nail psoriasis and it is in fact a fungus that needs to be tended to right away? (insert dramatic eye roll here).
I have been to many doctors since my initial diagnosis and I am pretty sure, in fact, I am 100% sure that even though it may look like a fungus some days, it is nail psoriasis. Some days I really do not want to look at it, so I pop a pretty colour nail polish on and just keep the rest to myself.
Nail psoriasis treatment
Truth be told, I have yet to find something that works for my nails. Some days I sit and look at them and I am baffled. I have no sure reason why and when. It is as is the trigger operates on its own planet.
Nothing I have used to date works. Some days it starts healing on its own and moves from nail to nail and leaves no sign of it ever having been there. The pitting seems to be a permanent feature now.
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