Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Psórî@sîs C@us3
Psórî@sîs C@us3
Psoriasis is an autoimmune skin condition that causes itchiness and discomfort. Plaque psoriasis
is the most common type. It causes thick, scaly areas of skin. While there isn’t a cure, psoriasis
treatment can help manage symptoms. Your provider may prescribe special creams or ointments
for psoriasis.
ContentsOverviewSymptoms and CausesDiagnosis and TestsManagement and
TreatmentPreventionOutlook / PrognosisLiving With
Overview
Psoriasis causes patches of red, scaly skin. It happens because your body has an overactive
immune system.
What is psoriasis?
ADVERTISEMENT
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps
support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or
services. Policy
What are the types of psoriasis?
Plaque psoriasis : Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis. About
80% to 90% of people with psoriasis have plaque psoriasis.
Inverse psoriasis: This type appears in your skin folds. It causes thin plaques
without scales.
Guttate psoriasis: Guttate psoriasis may appear after a sore throat caused by
a streptococcal infection. It looks like small, red, drop-shaped scaly spots and
often affects children and young adults.
Pustular psoriasis : Pustular psoriasis has small, pus-filled bumps on top of
plaques.
Erythrodermic psoriasis : This is a severe type of psoriasis that affects a large
area (more than 90%) of your skin. It causes widespread skin discoloration and
skin shedding.
Sebopsoriasis: This type typically appears on your face and scalp as bumps
and plaques with a greasy, yellow scale. This is a cross between psoriasis
and seborrheic dermatitis.
Nail psoriasis: Nail psoriasis causes skin discoloration, pitting and changes to
your fingernails and toenails.
A psoriasis rash can show up anywhere on your skin. Psoriasis is common on your:
In most people, psoriasis covers a small area of their skin. In severe cases, the plaques
connect and cover a large area of your body.
ADVERTISEMENT
What is psoriatic arthritis?
Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that causes joint pain and swelling. Similar to
psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune condition that causes your immune
system to function abnormally and cause symptoms. About 1 in 3 people diagnosed
with psoriasis will also develop arthritis due to inflammation. Early treatment of psoriatic
arthritis can reduce damage to your joints.
People of any age, sex or race can get psoriasis. Psoriasis affects millions of people.
More than 3% of the U.S. population has psoriasis.
ADVERTISEMENT
Psoriasis and eczema are two different skin conditions. Both conditions cause similar
symptoms like discolored skin, a rash and itching. Psoriasis plaques cause areas of
thick skin covered in scales. Eczema causes a rash of dry and bumpy skin. Eczema
also typically causes more intense itching than psoriasis.
An early sign of psoriasis is small bumps. The bumps grow, and scales form on top. The
surface of the plaque might shed, but the scales beneath them will stick together. If you
scratch your rash, the scales may tear away from your skin. This can cause bleeding.
As the rash continues to grow, lesions (larger areas of skin damage) can form.
Symptoms of psoriasis can range from mild to severe.
In addition to skin plaques or a rash, you might have symptoms that include:
Itchy skin.
Cracked, dry skin.
Skin pain.
Nails that are pitted, cracked or crumbly.
Joint pain.
If you scratch your plaque, you could break open your skin, which could lead to an
infection. Infections are dangerous. If you experience severe pain, swelling and a fever,
you have symptoms of an infection. Contact your healthcare provider if you have these
symptoms.
If you have psoriasis, your immune system is supposed to destroy foreign invaders, like
bacteria, to keep you healthy and prevent you from getting sick. Instead, your immune
system can mistake healthy cells for foreign invaders. As a result, your immune system
creates inflammation or swelling, which you see on the surface of your skin as skin
plaques.
It usually takes up to 30 days for new skin cells to grow and replace old skin cells. Your
over-reactive immune system causes the timeline of new skin cell development to
change to three to four days. The speed of new cells replacing old cells creates scales
and frequent skin shedding on top of skin plaques.
Emotional stress.
An infection (streptococcal infection).
A skin injury like cuts, scrapes or surgery.
Certain medications, such as lithium and beta-blockers.
Changes in body temperature due to the weather.
Is psoriasis contagious?
No, psoriasis isn’t contagious. You can’t get psoriasis by coming into contact with
another person’s psoriasis skin rash.
Diagnosis and Tests
How is psoriasis diagnosed?
The appearance of a skin plaque leads to a psoriasis diagnosis, but symptoms can
relate to other similar skin conditions, so your provider might offer a skin biopsy test to
confirm your diagnosis. During this test, your provider will remove a small sample of
skin tissue from your skin plaque and examine it under a microscope.
Steroid creams.
Moisturizers for dry skin.
Medication to slow skin cell production (anthralin).
Medicated lotions or shampoos.
Vitamin D3 ointment.
Vitamin A or retinoid creams.
Creams or ointments may be enough to improve the rash in small areas of your skin. If
your rash affects larger areas, or if you also have joint pain, you’ll need other
treatments. Joint pain may be a sign that you have arthritis.
If your symptoms of psoriasis don’t improve after treatment, or if you have large areas of
involvement (10% of your skin or more), your healthcare provider may recommend the
following treatments:
Before starting treatment, talk to your healthcare provider about the side effects and
mention any medications or supplements you currently take to avoid drug interaction.
For some people diagnosed with psoriasis, the skin condition causes more than
itchiness, scaling skin and skin discoloration. It can lead to swollen joints and arthritis. If
you have psoriasis, you may be at higher risk of:
Diabetes.
Obesity.
High cholesterol.
Strokes.
Heart attacks.
If you have psoriasis, your provider will do regular blood pressure checks and monitor
the progress of your treatment to avoid complications. You can take steps to prevent
potential complications by:
A flare-up of psoriasis symptoms can last a couple of weeks to a few months. Your
healthcare provider can speed up your skin’s recovery with certain medications. After
your symptoms go away, your psoriasis is in remission. This means that you could have
another outbreak of symptoms in the future. Your remission timeline could last a few
months to a couple of years. If you notice your symptoms flare up when you contact
certain triggers, avoiding those triggers leads to a long remission time.
Make an Appointment
Prevention
How can I prevent psoriasis?
There isn’t a way to entirely prevent psoriasis. You can reduce your risk by following
your healthcare provider’s treatment, living a healthy lifestyle, taking good care of your
skin and avoiding triggers that can cause an outbreak of symptoms.
Outlook / Prognosis
What can I expect if I have psoriasis?
If you have psoriasis, it’s common to see symptoms show up during early adulthood, but
the timeline of when symptoms begin is unique to every person. You may notice certain
triggers in your environment that can cause a flare up of symptoms. Avoiding these
triggers can lead to fewer outbreaks in the future.
Psoriasis can make you uncomfortable, itchy and self-conscious. If these symptoms are
causing you physical or emotional distress, contact your healthcare provider for
treatment.
There isn’t a cure for psoriasis. Psoriasis is a chronic condition, which means that
symptoms may come and go throughout your life. Treatment can relieve symptoms so
you can look and feel your best.
Living With
How do I take care of myself?
Talk to your healthcare provider about lowering your risk for related conditions,
such as heart disease, depression and diabetes.
Lower your stress with meditation, exercise or seeing a mental health
professional.
Do regular skin self-exams to notice any changes in your skin. If you have skin
changes, a rash that’s not going away or a rash that gets worse, contact your
healthcare provider.
Psoriasis, an itchy skin condition, can come and go throughout your life. It’s related to
an overactive immune response and isn’t contagious. If you have skin changes that
aren’t going away, talk to your healthcare provider. There isn’t a cure for psoriasis, but
psoriasis treatments can improve symptoms. Your provider may prescribe a special
cream or moisturizer or medications. Other therapies are available if creams or
medicines don’t work. Maintaining your overall health will also help improve symptoms.
Medically Reviewed
References
Ad
Appointments 216.444.5725
A P P O I N T M E N T S & LO C AT I O N S
R EQ U EST A N A P P O I N T M E N T
Actions
Appointments & AccessAccepted InsuranceEvents CalendarFinancial AssistanceGive to Cleveland
ClinicPay Your Bill OnlineRefer a PatientPhone DirectoryVirtual Second OpinionsVirtual Visits
9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195 | 800.223.2273 | © 2024 Cleveland Clinic. All Rights
Reserved.