psoriasis
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Today, stress is a part of most peoples' lives. Demanding work schedules and health are just a few potential causes of stress. Psoriasis is a skin disorderwhich results in scaly, often itchy areas in patches. With psoriasis disease, your immune cells release substances called cytokines. These make skin cells grow uncontrolled and form scaly plaques. They change levels of chemicals in your brain that affect your mood. A cytokine called TNF-alpha might affect brain chemicals like serotonin in a way that could lead to depression. In this blog, let's explore the relationship between stress and psoriasis and how people with psoriasis can manage stress.

Stress can make psoriasis symptomsworse and psoriasis skin diseasecan make you stressed. But when your stress levels reduce, your skin condition improves too. As per a study conducted on a group of psoriasis patients, it has been observed that they experience flare-ups after stressful incidents. (Source: Research Gate)

Stress makes psoriasis worse as it relates to the effect that stress has on inflammation. As per research, stress factors increase the immune system response involved in inflammation. (Source: NCBI) This means stress can lead to physical inflammation in the body. This increased inflammation may further worsen psoriasis symptoms. As per a study, increase in inflammatory cells that results from stress worsens psoriasis symptoms. Also, women with depressionare at a higher risk of developing psoriasis. (Source: Research Gate) 

How to manage stress to reduce psoriasis flareups?

There are ways to ease stress that might help your psoriasis, too.

  • Regular exercise: Exercise increases the production of endorphins in the body, a chemical that improves mood and energy. Regular exercise improves your sleep, which eventually reduces stress. As per the World Health Organization, people who regularly participate in vigorous exercise are less likely to get psoriasis than less active people. Exercise is good for overall stress reduction. It can be swimming, biking, running or walking or any other physical activity you enjoy.

  • Improve your diet: A healthy diet and good digestion are important for keeping the skin healthy. There are a lot of diet books available online. Avoiding smoking or drinking too much alcohol along with maintaining a healthy diet can play a key role in reducing stress and managing your psoriasis symptoms.

  • Learn techniques to relax: Deep breathing, meditation and yoga can lower stress. Long walks and long baths are good ways to ease stress. Meditation calms down your body and mind, controlling your environment by paying special attention to your breathing. It aims to clear your mind and get to a level of internal Zen. If you are feeling stressed, try to meditate and push all negative thoughts out of your head. Another great way to relieve stress is yoga. Yoga helps you to sweat out uninvited toxins, stretches your body, and has a great message of peace and tranquility.

  • Get a massage: A good massage can ease muscle tension, lower stress and help you relax. 

  • Limit your responsibilities: It's absolutely fine to say 'no' at times.

Role of homeopathy treatment

Psoriasis treatment should be focused on the complete well-being of a patient. It should focus on emotional and psychological improvement. Just superficially treating the physical symptoms is not sufficient. Homeopathy treats psoriasis holistically and therefore offers a long-lasting solution.

Dr Batra'sTM has treated more than 1.41 lakhs skin patients efficiently over the past 35 years. They have a 94.3% success rate in treating skin diseases including psoriasis. This is authenticated by the American Quality Assessors (AQA).

Case Study

Sumeet Kumar was 16 years old when he was diagnosed with psoriasis. He visited Dr Batra'sTM homeopathy clinic for treatment at the age of 30. He had red, raised, thick lesions with thick silvery scales all over the body and there was a lot of itching. The eruptions were spread all over his trunk, back, legs, scalp and hands. His nails were pitted due to psoriasis.

During a detailed evaluation of his case history, it was found that he developed psoriasis at a time when he was in a very stressful condition. There had been a lot of tension at home because his father was in an extra-marital relationship. There was a major financial problem that his family was facing. He was very unhappy due to the situation, especially since his mother was deeply hurt. His mother and sister's decision to end their lives came as a big shock to him and he somehow managed to convince them otherwise. He assured that he would bear all responsibilities himself. Nevertheless, this assurance did not last long and his mother and sister finally took the big step to end their lives. He was severely depressed after this incident and his psoriasis skin disease started getting worse.

He was prescribed homeopathic medicine for psoriasis. Over a period of time, his skin eruptions cleared gradually to a considerable extent within two to three months. This relieved him significantly from the stress of the disease as well as calmed down his mind. Further psoriasis treatment in homeopathy cleared most of his eruptions and he was now able to concentrate on his career.

Visit your nearest homeopathy clinic to determine the root cause of your skin condition.