Psoriasis

Hi, my name is Lisa and I have psoriasis.

Gross. But it's true.

Over the course of my life thus far, I have been known to have a few weird-o type skin irregularities from time to time, which everyone in my life has insisted are a direct result of stress. I guess now at least now I have a name for the beast--psoriasis. And yes, stress can trigger it. Before, I was always convinced it was a result of wearing my dirty sports bra or sweat-soaked Underarmour a few too many times without a wash.

Even though we know that stress can trigger it, psoriasis is quite a tricky bugger--no one really knows how you get it, what causes an outbreak and most unfortunately, there is no cure. At least it's not contagious, right? My skin is just all confused: a normal person's skin cells reproduce about once a month. In areas where I have psoriatic outbreaks, my skin cells are working a bit too hard; they are reproducing every three to four hours. I guess if you didn't think I was an overachiever (or a freak show) before, now you are convinced.

Luckily for me, however, my relation with psoriasis is not as intimate or serious as it could be. I guess you could say we are still in the courting stage. There are many different types, but the one that I am plagued with, and the most common type, is called plaque psoriasis. Things that can trigger outbreaks are the weather (thanks Norway), stress, diet, injury or allergies. Even though I am probably prey to all of the above unproven triggers, my outbreaks are very mild and contained. Thank goodness too....Some of things I have come across while educating myself really make me hope that mine remains mild.

Like pictures, for example. See the one above here that I found on the good 'ol world wide web. I am warning you now to NOT search for images of psoriasis...it can be a bit traumatic and I was honestly sick to my stomach looking at some. Search at your own risk, I suppose. There is nothing posted online that is as mild as mine, so I suppose I should just be grateful that I am more fortunate than others. And really, the outbreaks on my body are one thing. Tolerable. Yes of course having small skin irregularities has been an unforeseen and devastating setback to my career as a supermodel, but I can live with that. Scalp psoriasis on the other hand, I have had about enough of! Fortunately I have a LOT of hair so when it is inflamed it just looks like I have dandruff. But come on, no one wants to have dandruff either! I have to use these nasty smelling shampoos to treat my scalp and I am pretty sick of it. I just want my hair to feel and smell nice again. And I need a hair cut really bad. That's not psoriasis' fault, but I figured that while I was bitching I might as well tag that on.

Oh yeah, and to add to the mess, psoriasis can also cause inflammation of the joints--psoriatic arthritis. Apparently, anywhere from ten to thirty percent of people with psoriasis have or will develop psoriatic arthritis which can, by the way, become crippling with age and overuse. Good thing for an athlete to hear eh? When I visited the dermatologist this summer she told me that if you are going to develop p. arthritis it will usually act up about ten years after the patient's first outbreak of psoriasis. This little tidbit of information finally solves the mystery of my knee and wrist problems of the last two years (had my first outbreak around age 12).

To continue with my melodramatic 'tude---I just hope that I don't become a cripple before I have to flee from the Norwegian Immigration Authorites.

Ooh and this just in! Breaking news from the National Psoriasis Foundation: Psoriasis is also associated with other serious health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression. At least I have something to look forward to when psoriatic arthritis leaves me incapacitated in a wheel chair.