For some people having psoriasis is a small irritation. But it can have a huge impact on your quality of life if your symptoms are bad.
If you are living with psoriasis, you may find the following advice helpful.
Keep up your treatment
It's important to use your treatment as prescribed, even if your psoriasis gets better. Keep up your treatment to help prevent flare-ups.
Talk to your GP if you have any questions or worries about your treatment or any side effects.
Stay in contact with your healthcare team
Psoriasis is usually a long-term condition. It's likely you will be in touch often with your healthcare team.
The more your GP or specialist (dermatologist) knows, the more they can help you. Talk to your healthcare team about your symptoms. For example, you may have new symptoms which could be a sign of psoriatic arthritis.
Tell them about changes to your health and mental wellbeing. How your skin looks may upset you - you can talk to them about this.
They will listen, give you advice and treatment if you need it.
Exercise and healthy eating
Exercise and healthy eating are recommended for everyone, not just people with psoriasis.
Moving more and eating healthy food can boost your mood and make you feel better about yourself. This can also help with stress and may improve your psoriasis.
Join a support group
There are support groups and online message boards (forums) for people with psoriasis.
They are usually run by other people with psoriasis.
In a support group you can chat to other people who have the same problems. They can give you useful advice about living with psoriasis.
This can help you feel less alone.
Peer to peer support - psoriasis-association.org.uk
Events and meetings - irishskin.ie
Looking after your mental health and emotions
Having psoriasis can make you feel down. You may also have feelings of anxiety and stress.
Some people worry about how their skin looks. They start to go out or meet people less often.
Sometimes this leads to depression.
Talk to your GP or skin specialist about your worries or anxieties. They understand that skin problems can make people feel this way. They will suggest treatment. This could be medicine or talking to a counsellor or other specialist.
Psychological aspects of psoriasis - papaa.org
Contraception and pregnancy
If you are taking medicines for psoriasis you should use contraception if you are sexually active. This applies to men and women.
Psoriasis does not affect fertility. You can have a normal pregnancy and a healthy baby. But some treatments can be harmful to a baby in the womb.
Talk to your healthcare team if you would like to start trying for a baby. Your healthcare team can talk to you about your treatment.
