Since I was a child, I have suffered from psoriasis. It’s a skin condition, and it means that sometimes, parts of my skin grow about four times faster than normal skin. The new skin doesn’t have time to be worn away naturally like normal skin does, and this results in itchy skin patches which are red and scaly. In my case I have guttate psoriasis, meaning I get the condition in lots of small patches, though sometimes my patches join together into larger areas.
As a child and teenager, I was particularly badly affected by psoriasis. It covered a very large proportion of my body, including my face and scalp. I spent many weeks in hospital trying to get it under control, to little positive response. I did get relentlessly bullied because of it, mostly name calling (pizza face, flakybake, dandruff boy – you get the idea!), and spent years avoiding PE lessons so I wouldn’t have to get changed.
As an adult, it has come and gone, and I’ve been lucky enough for most of my 30s to be almost free of it, just retaining a little on my scalp and elbows. It often has a small resurgence in the winter, but clears up when I can get into some sunshine in the summer. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened this year, and it has returned with a vengeance, and I’m in a particularly bad breakout right now. It’s probably caused by the stress of the last 18 months or so with the bad university course, unemployment and new job taking their toll.
So for all those people I overhear talking about my ‘terrible dandruff’, or think I’m dirty because I appear to scratch a lot… give me a break, if I could do anything about it, I would!
About Me
- Burlybugger
- I'm a (fairly) sensible, easy-going, slightly introverted bear type, with an acerbic wit and a smattering of intelligence. For those who persist through my initial shyness, there's a good bloke in there, worth getting to know. Do you blog? Tell me! I'd really like to read some blogs of ordinary people I know!
4 comments:
Hey Burlybugger,
out of curiosity: have you tried out going to a solarium once in a while? A friend's doctor advised him to go and it's gone now. But I dunno if it's the same case here. I just thought of it reading that summers helped you a bit.
Good luck!
I've got it too, and in a similar way to yourself, and used to get the whole 'why don't you use head and shoulders' rubbish off people.
It seems to get worse this time of year - lots of dry air in heated homes and at work I think may not help?
I can relate to your problem. I have eczema, but not as bad as some people. And I've tried a lot of things as well, but it never ever goes away completely.
I have found that drinking rooibos (red) tea, helps. Again, it doesn't cure it, but it helps. Noticeably. I can't say it would help with your psoriasis, but if you haven't tried it, it MIGHT help a little.
And, I like the taste of it.
I had UV treatment at my local hospital and that did a world of good for my eczema and psoriasis.
See your GP and they can refer you to your local hospital for this. It's like a tanning both but you're only in there for a few seconds to begin with and the exposure time increases with each session, then use plenty of moisturiser immediately after each session.
I've also been prescribed protopic ointment which has no steroids and that has done wonders.
I was using steroid creams for well over 10 years prescribed by old school GPs and they just make things worse and cause skin damage anyway, but with Protopic (tacrolymus) things improved within days of using it. It's as if over 10 years of grief of skin trouble was taken away just like that with this new ointment. It was my face and neck that were worst affected and I even worked nights so I didn't have to see anyone as it was so bad, I even had to sleep with my face all bandaged up.
But it does have drawbacks - it makes you very sensitive to sunlight (and also shouldn't be used in conjunction with UV therapy) and alcohol. If you can moderate both drinking and being in direct sunlight then it will definitely be worthwhile considering.
Hope you find some relief. Now I don't have to worry about going outside, seeing people or dreading what I look like in the morning (and then spending hours trying to make my face look presentable) as I can now manage this condition. It hasn't gone away and probably won't, but it can be managed and give me much better quality of life than I had when it was at its worst.
Post a Comment