Itching and burning sensation, peeling or skin cracking, nail pitting or discoloration. Red or pink patches. Dry, itchy, thick and inflamed plaques with silvery appearance.
These are the most common symptoms of this auto-immune skin disorder that affects around 2-3% of population. Psoriasis is a very common disease that begins when your immune system works against your own body. The skin cells grow and mature much faster than normal (the cycle is about 1000 times quicker) and results in thickening of the affected area and formation of itchy rashes and scaly skin. It can also cause other inflammatory reactions on the skin.
It can flare up (without warning) anywhere on the body, specially on elbows, knees and scalp. Its a multifactorial chronical disease that can occure for many reasons including genetics, lifestyle, stress, trauma or injury, sunburn or other immune system disorder.
Although so far it has no cure, the good thing is that the symptoms can be managed or even temporarily disappear.
Certain improvement of the symptoms can be noticed during summer when your body is exposed to more sunshine and natural UV light. It is important to protect the skin from sunburn as this can be contradictory, make it worse and trigger flare-ups, just like cuts, overly dry skin or infections. The best is to learn the triggers and avoid them, if possible.
Keeping your skin well hydrated, especially the afected dry patches, using remedies to calm down the itchiness and be cautious about a healthy lifestyle (eliminating or decreasing of stress, alcohol consumption, use of tobacco, obesity or rapid weight changes, lack of vitamin D etc) can keep the symptoms under control.
The treatment of itching is important because any possible scratches can cause infection and inflammation which can trigger flares.
If you are a keen user of natural skin care, you have heard about aloe vera. Some researches showed aloe vera plant can reduce the redness and scaling and it can help in treating some inflammatory diseases. It can also help in calming down the itchiness and give your skin the necessary hydration.
Ideal way would be using the aloe vera pulp extracted from the leaves but if that isn`t an option for you, try to look for aloe gels with high purity and follow with creams containing high percentage of aloe vera.
Why is aloe vera good for skin? It is one of the most biologicaly active plants with uncountable benefits for the skin. We offer a short summary here: https://thegoodandthenatural.com/blogs/improve-your-well-being-upgrade-your-look/so-what-am-i-getting-from-the-aloe-component-in-creams