INFLAMMATION AND PSORIASIS

Let’s dig deeper into inflammation and learn how one of your body’s most helpful functions can also contribute to psoriasis symptoms.

Inflammation is your body’s natural defense and repair system. When a healthy person gets a cut or develops an infection, their immune system triggers inflammation. That signals blood vessels to enlarge around the injury, and white blood cells to rush in and repair the damage. When the injury or infection heals, the inflammation stops.

Illustration of a tree representing the roots of psoriasis

Transcript

Learn about how psoriasis and inflammation are related.

Read the Story

It's a different story for someone with an inflammatory disease like psoriasis. For people with psoriasis, that inflammation runs rampant. Instead of creating new skin cells to replace old ones at the end of their life-cycle, the body creates excess skin cells, even when they’re not needed. Not only that, they’re produced at a rate up to seven times faster than normal. This results in new skin cells rapidly pushing old, dead cells to the surface, creating the plaques and scales you see on your skin.

Now you can see the role that inflammation plays in the symptoms on your skin.

When was the last time you experienced a flare-up?

See how others responded.

Thanks for answering!

Anyone with psoriasis is familiar with flare-ups. Learn about all of the symptoms of psoriasis to know what you can expect.

Illustration of a person reading about psoriasis comorbidities

DEFINED: Comorbidities are when one or more additional diseases occur in a person who already has a chronic condition.

Illustration of a person holding their stomach

Inflammation and Comorbidities

Chronic inflammation doesn’t just affect your skin. It’s linked to other conditions that occur within the body. Some of these other conditions, known as comorbidities, may occur simultaneously with psoriasis.

Psoriasis is not thought to cause these conditions or vice versa.

It’s important to tell your dermatologist about all symptoms you’re experiencing, even if you don’t think they’re related to psoriasis.

Treatment Options for Psoriasis

There are a variety of psoriasis treatments available, and they each work in different ways to help treat psoriasis. How do you know which is right for you? Start by talking to a dermatologist who can explain how each option works. Then you can work together to choose an appropriate treatment option for you.

Is it really psoriasis? Learn more about the symptoms:

Psoriasis Symptoms