Psoriasis is a skin condition that occurs mostly on knees, elbows, scalp and trunk. It is a chronic disease which does not have any cure. It can only be minimized by controlling its symptoms and reducing its affect on body. Psoriasis causes red, itchy scaly patches which grow as the person ages. This disease is common immune mediated skin disease which most people don’t know about and they have different assumptions about it. However most of the assumptions are not true about this disease and thus it is important to know the facts to get proper information and methods to control psoriasis. Today we will discuss about some myths about this condition and reveal truth behind it.
With inputs from Dr. K.Swaroop, Dermatologist at Neera Nursing Home, Kanpur
7 Myths about Psoriasis Which You Should Know
1. Myth- Psoriasis is Contagious Disease
This skin condition is assumed to be contagious and people believe that it can spread through people. This is not true. It is an autoimmune condition where the immune system responds to a function inappropriately leading to this disease in skin cells. It is not contagious and hence cannot be spread though touching or coming in contact with it.
2. Myth- Psoriasis is only of one type
This is also a false belief. Psoriasis skin condition can also be of different variations. What people mostly encounter is the common types of psoriasis disease. Whereas there are multiple types of this skin disease which are present and can affect your body. The most common occurrence of psoriasis is when the plaque is large which thick silverfish scales on the skin. Other types of psoriasis diseases are-
Guttate psoriasis- This condition spreads in form of rashes and scales that are usually tear-shaped. It is also called raindrop psoriasis.
Inverse Psoriasis- It only spreads when it spreads to other parts of the body. It grows mostly on armpits, groin and area under breasts.
Erythrodermic Psoriasis- This is a rare type of psoriasis disease which involves having peeling rash and redness on the skin. It can create white skin in some cases as well.
Pustular psoriasis- In this, the psoriasis is caused in form of pus-filled bumps on the hands and feet. It can be more irritating than other types of psoriasis.
3. Myth- Psoriasis is just dry skin
Many people believe that psoriasis is just a patch of dry skin that occurs on the body and thus does not give much attention to the problem. This can be very harmful to your health because neglecting psoriasis can increase the disease and it can turn more severe. The truth is that the thick scales on the skin are because of immature skin cells that keep building and do not shed like in case of other skin conditions.
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4. Myth- Psoriasis is a caused from Poor Hygiene
Well, psoriasis can increase or grow more rapidly in case of poor hygienic condition but it does not mean it is a cause of it. Dr. K Swaroop says that patients of psoriasis assume that maintaining hygiene can improve this skin condition. However it is not true, because most of the cases of psoriasis are with people who are well aware of their skin health and keep consistent check on it. The truth is psoriasis is caused by different condition of autoimmune system and is not related to hygienic quality.
5. Myth- Doctors can Cure Psoriasis
This is a common myth that applies to most of the health diseases. This myth was told us by our skin specialist as people believe that it is a very regular skin problem and a dermatologist can treat it easily. It is definitely not true, psoriasis skin problem does not have a definitive treatment yet, and hence doctors cannot do much about it. They can only tell you some prevention techniques to control symptoms of this disease from spreading further.
6. Myth- Psoriasis is Similar to Eczema
It is not true that psoriasis and eczema are similar types of conditions. But most people believe so because the initial symptoms of the both the skin conditions are quite similar thus making an impact of that sought. The truth between these two diseases is that eczema is an allergic reaction whereas psoriasis is not. Also eczema can be treated and is can disappear over time, in the case of psoriasis, it is not true. The other difference is that both affect different areas of the body, hence it can be differentiated on the place of occurrence as well.
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7. Myth- Psoriasis Affects Adults Only
Psoriasis happens to majorly adults and in very few cases to children of teenagers. Therefore assuming this is quite common. Majority of patients of psoriasis have this skin disease after their 30’s and then it goes on till life time. This skin disease is more evident in adults of ages over 50 and hence this myth is taken from basic observation which cannot be totally denied.
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