Man sitting pensively thinking about what psoriasis is.

What is psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a skin condition where skin cells are being produced at a much faster rate than normal. This disrupts the natural skin barrier, causing vital components to be lost from the skin, and stopping skin from initiating its repair sequence.

"Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory skin disorder that affects at least 73,000 people in Ireland." Irish Skin Foundation

There is no known cure for psoriasis, but it also doesn’t need to be a daily irritation. Learning about your psoriasis, what triggers an outbreak, and how to adjust your lifestyle as well as moisturising your skin every day, can all help to mitigate the effects of psoriasis.

What causes psoriasis?

The cause of psoriasis is not fully understood yet, however, both the immune system and genetics play a part.

Psoriasis is NOT contagious, infectious nor the result of poor hygiene. Psoriasis is a genetic skin condition, and often runs in families. It is triggered by an immune system response.

Psoriasis often runs in families, although this is not a hard and fast rule. If members of your family have it, that doesn't mean you will automatically get it too, however it does increase your chances of developing it yourself.

For example, psoriasis runs in our family, my grandfather was affected by it, and I too am affected by it, however it skipped my mother. Read more in "our story" about how our family created natural remedies for psoriasis for over 4 generations.

 

Psoriasis flares up when it is triggered. Flare-ups are caused by an immune system response that affects the skin. The most common triggers of psoriasis are stress, diet/alcohol, climate, such as a lack of sun, or a sensitivity to certain products, infections like strep-throat or medication.

Daily moisturising is vital for psoriasis

If there is one thing that you change in your daily life, make that applying a moisturiser everyday after you shower or wash.

Moisturizing creams are used to break the dry skin cycle,” says Marie Lodén MSc Pharm in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, it is so effective that she considers it a “vital part in the management of psoriasis”.

One of the challenges to psoriasis is that each person's triggers are individual, which means that learning how to manage your skin condition is a journey. We can help by offering our experience learnings. You can book a consultation with us for free, so don't hesitate to get in touch.