Psoriasis

Chances are you’ve heard about psoriasis or even know someone who has the condition (or you even have it yourself). About 3% of the U.S. population lives with this health issue.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that causes inflamed, itchy, and/or scaly lesions on the skin. Symptoms most commonly appear on the knees, elbows, trunk, and scalp but can pop up nearly anywhere on your body. The severity of the disease can vary significantly: Some people with psoriasis have just a few specks of it on their body; others have it covering large portions of their skin.

While there’s no cure for psoriasis, there are some really effective ways to treat the condition and help keep it under control so it doesn’t take over your life. “With the treatments we have now, it’s possible for people who had psoriasis covering their whole body to be clear or nearly clear of symptoms, so it’s really life-changing,” Yolanda R. Helfrich, M.D., clinical associate professor of dermatology and the residency program director of the department of dermatology at the University of Michigan Medical School, tells SELF.

By learning how to identify the signs of psoriasis, triggers, treatment options, and more, you can effectively manage psoriasis and keep your symptoms to a minimum.

While there’s no cure for psoriasis, there are effective ways to treat the condition.

Amanda K Bailey

It’s not entirely clear why someone develops psoriasis in the first place. Experts know psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, which means that it is spurred by a glitch in the immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With psoriasis, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells, prompting them to regenerate faster than normal. This rapid cell turnover causes the cells to pile up, leading to symptoms such as rashes and the hallmark patches and scales that plaque psoriasis, the most common form of the condition, is known for.

“Genetics is the most common risk factor,” Dr. Helfrich says. If one of your parents has psoriasis, you’re more likely to develop it, and your risk increases even more if both your parents have been diagnosed with it. Even having a family history of other autoimmune conditions may increase your risk too, Dr. Helfrich explains.

Researchers have identified numerous genes that are associated with the disease, but there’s likely more to developing psoriasis than genetics alone.¹ “What experts think is that you inherit risk factors, but there are other factors that lead to the ultimate development of the disease,” Dr. Helfrich says. In other words, people who already have some psoriasis risk factors may go on to fully develop the condition after experiencing some sort of trigger, like a skin infection or an injury, heavy stress, or exposure to harsh weather, among others (which we’ll dive into below).

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One of the biggest misconceptions about psoriasis is that you can “catch it” from someone else. The truth is psoriasis is absolutely not contagious, according to the CDC. It’s not caused by a virus, bacteria, or fungus—it’s an autoimmune disease. The visible skin symptoms do not contain any sort of microbes that would allow it to spread from person to person.

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