Southern Heat Vs Inverse Psoriasis

When my psoriasis first started, it presented as plaque psoriasis. Not knowing anything about psoriasis at the time I thought I had gotten into poison ivy. A doctor would confirm it was not and that he thought it was psoriasis. He sent me to a dermatologist who would confirm that diagnosis.

That was twenty years ago. I knew little to nothing about psoriasis. I had no family members with it or so I thought. I would later come to find that my dad and several members of that side of the family have psoriasis. Little did I know that plaque psoriasis was just the start of what I would have to deal with. Did you know that one type of psoriasis could lead to other types of psoriasis? It’s a proven fact.

A new type of psoriasis

There were so many things about psoriasis I did not know at the time. I love spending time outdoors. Hence the thought of poison ivy. I live in the south. We have summers that can be brutal as far as temperatures go. Multiple days of the summer tend to go into the hundred-degree range. When you add in the humidity level it adds at least another ten degrees to that temperature. I started noticing that on days at that high temperature I would develop a red slick rash in the folds of my skin. I would find that when I stayed in the house with the air conditioner going the rash would go away. Heat rash was my first thought. It’s funny how we dismiss things as being something else.

I mentioned what was happening to my primary doctor. He informed me that I needed to discuss it with my dermatologist as well. My dermatologist told me that the next time it happened to come see him immediately. That was what I done. Upon his examination I got hit with a new psoriasis diagnosis. I was informed that what I thought was heat rash was actually inverse psoriasis. I had a ton of questions since I had never heard of inverse psoriasis. It did not look like my other psoriasis. It was a red, smelly, slick patch. I thought the plaque psoriasis took a mental toll on me. The inverse was worse.

Not being outside much now

Last summer was terrible. We had temperatures that were some of the worst in several years. It meant that I had continued bouts of inverse psoriasis. There were multiple days of being stuck indoors, air conditioners running on high and me sitting in my chair with ice packs cooling those areas. That would be hard for me to deal with. What would I do when it got better? Of course, I went right back outside. It was a yo-yo summer. Outside in the heat, inside cooling the inverse and repeat. Doesn’t that sound just like having plaque psoriasis? You deal with it, a flare comes along, and repeat.

Psoriasis keeps giving

I always say psoriasis is just that one thing that keeps on giving. It has given me inverse psoriasis now and psoriatic arthritis. How much more will I have to contend with. I guess time will tell. It is a bit of a scary thing to think about. The more research uncovers about psoriasis in trying to find a cure the more they are liable to find other conditions we have to deal with. With our summers being so hot I have no choice but to deal with inverse psoriasis every summer now.