My Living With Psoriasis Blog

Okay, so to get the ball rolling I thought I would have a look around and see what is out there at the moment and what brands are being discussed about via the internet on other psoriasis sites. I found that Salcura Skin Care are being talked about in a few places, so I thought I’d give their site a look over and saw that they were doing a “free trial” on some of their products. So hey, seeing as I'm not exactly bursting at the seams with cash, I thought I’d pay the £2 p&p and give their products ago. Info: Website: https://www.salcuraskincare.com/ (prices are on the website – there are different prices for different ml) The Review: Okay, so in the free trial there was a few moisturising packets and two of their sprays; -           DermaSpray Natural Skin Nourishment: Intensive -           DermaSpray Natural Skin Nourishment: Gentle -      ...

Info: Stocked in: Boots, Superdrug, Lloyds Pharmacy, Pharmacy 2U and Ocado (this may alter dependent on where you are from) Price: £7.15 Website: http://aveeno.co.uk/ The Review: Alongside the bath and shower oil I thought I would buy a matching moisturiser that I can put on after the shower. I don’t this to my face often as it is a bit oily and never boded well with needing to put make-up on afterwards but if I have days where I am not going out I will put it on my face and give it longer to absorb. They do have products which are designed for your face but I didn’t purchase any of them therefore cannot review them. Again, this product like its pair smells amazing and the scent really lingers throughout the day. However it is not that brilliant at suppressing psoriasis patches. It does leave un-affected areas of the skin smooth and therefore does do what it is meant for. Sadly it is another product which is not a remedy for psoriasis! If you...

I was not really aware that psoriasis can 'increase' your chances of diabetes and heart attacks/strokes, but apparently it can!  Whilst skimming the internet i came across this webpage  "Psoriasis linked to Diabetes"  and thought that i had better give it a read. It says that statistics show people with psoriasis can be 56% more likely to develop diabetes than those without it (and that varies on the severity of your psoriasis). I don't think that it is meant to imply that if you have psoriasis you will definitely get diabetes but it just implies that there is a connection between the two and advises people who psoriasis to get checked annually.  I don't think that I have recently been checked for diabetes - so i think i might make an appointment just to be sure! Can't hurt can it. If you are like me and unaware that a connection between the two even existed, I'd suggest getting yourself booked in for a check up as its better to be s...

Background: I was advised by a family member who was looking into the causes of psoriasis that pork can cause the condition to flare up. I've not really thought massively about the way that psoriasis can be affected internally from the food and drink that i consume. Throughout the stages where my psoriasis has felt the worst, i was eating a lot of pork meals for dinner (pork belly/chops etc...) so i have decided to completely cut out pork and see if it makes my skin feel any better without changing my skin routine.  The outcome: Well, i am pretty sure that i wont be choosing to eat pork for a long time!!  Since i haven't had pork my skin has actually improved a fair amount. In the areas that i didn't really have psoriasis before - that have recently come flared up for no reason - it has become a lot better without me actually changing anything that I've done to my moisturising routine.  I have never really been a massive fan of pork so cutting it out of my ...

Info: Stocked in: Boots, Superdrug, Lloyds Pharmacy, Pharmacy 2U and Ocado (this may alter dependant on where you are from) Price: £8.19 Website: http://aveeno.co.uk/ The Review: I have been using Aveeno Bath and Shower Oil (with colloidal oatmeal) for little over a month now. It is not meant to be and doesn’t say anywhere that it is a cure for psoriasis but it does state that it “thoroughly cleanses, moisturises and conditions dry and sensitive skin” so I thought that it would be a good product to test. I put it on when in the shower over my skin and let it soak in, or will put it in the bath. It is milky in colour and soft in texture. However, whilst it smells absolutely amazing and has a scent that lingers on your skin for the entire day, it does not do a lot in the way of helping my psoriasis. Saying this, it doesn’t hinder it either!! At around £8 a bottle, it is not something which I think I would buy again as it doesn’t work well to mainta...

THE REVIEWS :D So my main goal of this blog was to share with other people who have psoriasis the treatments or store bought products that work well for me. I haven't blogged that much, or in fact at all, recently but i have been composing the reviews of the products that i have tried!  I have decided to just basically say my thoughts on them and then review them on the criteria on a scale up to 10;  Price - just to say whether i think that the price is worth the product Smell - sometimes psoriasis products don't have a very nice smell to them which is off putting Texture - just to describe what the product is actually like and whether it is pleasant to use Packaging - sometimes its not nice to have products which look abnormal and have people question you on what exactly it is for when you really don't want to have to discuss it, therefore this section is for whether they are 'normal' looking Time consumption - some products you have to...

Being contacted by the British Skin Foundation was a compliment but being e-mailed by someone to be a part in their documentary about the effects of Psoriasis is more than I could have asked for. I have never really been one of those people who enjoys their photo being taken (unless it is by myself so if it looks hideous it can easily be deleted and unseen by anyone), let alone being videoed talking openly about something which I don’t even like to think about. BUT I started this blog for a reason and to have other people contact me to help them raise awareness of psoriasis is not something which I can turn a blind eye to. Hayley Arnold  is a final year university student and has taken it upon herself to create a documentary dedicated to psoriasis as she comes from a family who knows and understands the detrimental effect that it can have. I think that this is a really honourable thing to do and could never imagine saying no to a project as special as this....

I’m not a massive bath person but recently I’ve been trying to bath more than I shower so that I can put oats into the bath. Oats are brilliant for your skin and since I have been doing it my skin has actually felt softer and my psoriasis seems to lack in the ‘flakes’ that form on top of the patches. I never used to want to have baths as I was told that it is not good for your psoriasis and that it was best to have luke warm showers that dont last long.  It is really simple: get a pair of tights, put oats into one of the legs, tie it up, cut it away from the rest of the tights and let it soak into the bath water, giving it a squeeze every now and then to let the juices out. It genuinely takes less than 30 seconds to prepare and is worth it if you are a bath person!! If you are like me and prefer showers, after you see the effect it has on your skin, you will probably want to bath more as well! I'm not saying that putting oats into the bath is the cure for psoriasi...

I had a reply today from someone who also has psoriasis on one of my blog entries. This is exciting as when people comment back to me and tell me about their experiences it really encourages me too keep putting this blog up!!  He said that nearly two years ago he stopped using steroid creams and went for natural remedies for psoriasis and through doing this he has seen great improvement and may even be clear from psoriasis by Christmas.  His wonderful advice was to take:  3x Cod Liver Oil Capsules and 3x Evening Primrose Capsules a day. Take one of each with meals and drink plenty of water. He also advises to use aqueous cream on the affected areas. Even though he said it took about a month to see the first sign of improvements, it was well worth it as doing it this way has changed his life!  If this helps internally, even though it may be a life-long commitment to make, it is surely worth ago! I know that I will be stocking up on...

When you don’t have to put on make-up, don’t! Let your skin breath as much as possible. This is especially important if you have psoriasis on your face (like me).  When you are not going anywhere, let your hair dry naturally, blow drying your hair will dry out your scalp more. When brushing your hair try not to press to hard into the scalp as it will loosen the flakes of skin, also, where possible avoid going from your roots where your parting is, flakes are easily hidden beneath hair, but when it comes to your parting they are really visible. Always carry around some form of moisturiser in your bag so when you feel conscious of the flakes on your skin, moisturise. Avoid itching and scratching as much as possible. It is literally a testimony to your will power sometimes, but the less you scratch the less the need to scratch spreads. Once you've itched in once place, it spreads like wild-fire. Just distract yourself and the need goes away. If you itch and s...

On my hunting for information on psoriasis I came across a site called  "Papaa"  which stands for The Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance.  So I had a little nosey around and found that they had some leaflets which you are able to download. The main one that caught my eye was the psychological aspects one. I know from having the condition that it can make you depressed and self conscious but seeing it written down really puts into focus how much of a negative affect it has.  I can't say that the information in the leaflet is wrong, but i wanted it to be as seeing in black and white really brings home the way that myself and others may all be feeling. It just encourages me to keep up with this site and reach others to try and help!  If you want to give it, and other leaflets, a read then the link is... http://www.papaa.org/resources/downloads It has some helpful relaxation techniques that might help in situations where you feel ra...

So after posting a blog on Health Unlocked: British Skin Foundation yesterday they got back to my post and asked me to become a case study for them. If you'd like to see our conversation. Click here. This is exactly the kind of thing that I want to get involved in. It would be amazing to talk to others who also suffer from psoriasis!! So i sent off the form and will just have to wait and see what they say back to me :D If anyone else out there would like to be a case study and give themselves a voice the link to the form is: http://www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk/Getinvolved/Shareyourstory.aspx I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous, I am pretty nervous talking to anyone about the condition as I never really have before. I really don’t want to be trapped inside a room of self-conscious anymore and think that this would be a brilliant start to break out!! Fingers Crossed for their reply

This treatment basically involved standing in an up-right sun bed and being subjected to UVB rays for a period of time which is increased as the sessions go on. The period of time which you start at is depicted from the test done to acquire what your skins sensitivity is. This is often done by strip placed onto your forearm that contains circles with different light intensities; they're held onto the skin and then left to develop over a day or so. The one which doesn’t leave a red mark on your skin is then calculated (somehow) to decide how long you start off inside the “sun bed”. When I was still at secondary school, in years 10, 11 and 12 I used to have UVB treatment. Can’t say that I was ever really a fan of it, but in the winter when my skin was worse due to the cold weather, I used to want to go. It was a lot of hassle, for not a lot of benefit. I used to have to go 3 times a week and the sessions I used to start with (as I have sensitive, pale skin) used t...

I am new to blogging but a veteran with psoriasis. My sister was the one who encouraged me to start a blog with the hope that I will stop letting psoriasis rule my life and so that I could help others who have psoriasis. So with a shove from the right person, in the right direction, here I am – a blogger. A little bit about me: I have lived with psoriasis since I can remember and I am now 21, and still living with it. Psoriasis has affected my life greatly but I don’t want to be a ‘sufferer’ anymore and because my symptoms are the worst that they have ever been and my confidence levels are at an all time low I want to overcome my psoriasis and be proud of myself for doing so and stop hiding it away hoping that it will go away. I don’t actually know anyone else who has psoriasis, and this affects my ability to talk about it with someone, or in fact anyone who understands how it can make someone feel. I therefore hope to connect with those people via this blog!! My m...