What Happens When You Have Psoriasis?
>> Tuesday, April 24, 2012
For the most part, psoriasis is an embarrassing and frustrating skin ailment that usually affects people between the ages of 15 and 35. It is not known the exact reason behind the disease, but the most likely cause could be heredity. However, skin injuries, stress, irregular metabolism, infections and allergies can act as triggers. It's a non-communicable disease and can't be transmitted to other people. Psoriasis causes the affected area of the skin to be itchy and red with white flakes that resemble scales. Although any part of the body can be affected by the disease, the areas most prone to the disease are the knees, elbows, scalp, chest and lower back.
Even though the general symptom is the presence of itchy red skin together with silver white flake, there are essentially five different types of psoriasis, and each type comes with its own symptom:
1. Plaque: The most common form of psoriasis, it makes the skin thick and reddish colored covered with silvery white flakes. The afflicted area itches.
2. Pustular: White blister that is surrounded by an itchy red patch of skin.
3. Guttate: Itchy small pink red spots.
4. Inverse: Red and itchy armpits, groin and overlapping skins.
5. Erythrodermic: Intensely red and itchy skin.
Approaches to psoriasis cure comprise of systemic medication using strong medicines such as retinoids, topical treatment using skin care products such as moisturizers, photo therapy by exposing the affected areas to ultraviolet light, and natural treatment by using homemade products such as apple cider vinegar. Not all of these techniques can provide relief to everyone. Sufferers respond well to different treatment methods because the trigger for each is different. For some sufferers, none of these methods work.
Therefore, to figure out why and how each method may or may not be effective for you, it is important to have an understanding of what really takes place when you have psoriasis. There are three different layers in our skin. The lowest is the subcutaneous fat which contains the nerves and large blood vessels. The middle layer is called dermis which covers the smaller blood vessels, hair roots, sweat glands and nerves. The third, or the topmost level, is the epidermis which protects the body.
Even though the cells that make the deeper levels may last a lifetime, the cellular material of the epidermis have a life span of 2 to 4 weeks. This means that the epidermis is continually in need of new cells to replace the ones that die out. The replacement cells are manufactured by the basal cells, which are at the base of the epidermis. As long as you live, the basal cells constantly divide to form new skin cells. These newborn cells come up to the upper layer to take the place of the dead cells which are discarded.
Most of the basal cells start splitting up abnormally fast in some people at times. This results in the surplus of skin cells that rise up to the surface, pile up and then die. These dead cells cause psoriasis. No one know why basal cells divide so fast, but many psoriasis cure methods attempt to solve this problem by targeting oxidants and free radicals floating in our skin and body. When you have psoriasis, you should first try to cure it with natural remedies and skin care products, because they are the easiest and have no side effects. Only after you are sure that they will not work that you should try other methods including strong medicines.
Even though the general symptom is the presence of itchy red skin together with silver white flake, there are essentially five different types of psoriasis, and each type comes with its own symptom:
1. Plaque: The most common form of psoriasis, it makes the skin thick and reddish colored covered with silvery white flakes. The afflicted area itches.
2. Pustular: White blister that is surrounded by an itchy red patch of skin.
3. Guttate: Itchy small pink red spots.
4. Inverse: Red and itchy armpits, groin and overlapping skins.
5. Erythrodermic: Intensely red and itchy skin.
Approaches to psoriasis cure comprise of systemic medication using strong medicines such as retinoids, topical treatment using skin care products such as moisturizers, photo therapy by exposing the affected areas to ultraviolet light, and natural treatment by using homemade products such as apple cider vinegar. Not all of these techniques can provide relief to everyone. Sufferers respond well to different treatment methods because the trigger for each is different. For some sufferers, none of these methods work.
Therefore, to figure out why and how each method may or may not be effective for you, it is important to have an understanding of what really takes place when you have psoriasis. There are three different layers in our skin. The lowest is the subcutaneous fat which contains the nerves and large blood vessels. The middle layer is called dermis which covers the smaller blood vessels, hair roots, sweat glands and nerves. The third, or the topmost level, is the epidermis which protects the body.
Even though the cells that make the deeper levels may last a lifetime, the cellular material of the epidermis have a life span of 2 to 4 weeks. This means that the epidermis is continually in need of new cells to replace the ones that die out. The replacement cells are manufactured by the basal cells, which are at the base of the epidermis. As long as you live, the basal cells constantly divide to form new skin cells. These newborn cells come up to the upper layer to take the place of the dead cells which are discarded.
Most of the basal cells start splitting up abnormally fast in some people at times. This results in the surplus of skin cells that rise up to the surface, pile up and then die. These dead cells cause psoriasis. No one know why basal cells divide so fast, but many psoriasis cure methods attempt to solve this problem by targeting oxidants and free radicals floating in our skin and body. When you have psoriasis, you should first try to cure it with natural remedies and skin care products, because they are the easiest and have no side effects. Only after you are sure that they will not work that you should try other methods including strong medicines.
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