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What you should know about this type of autoimmune disease, including its causes, symptoms, and treatment choices.
If you have inflammatory, pinkish-purple, glossy lesions in your skin folds (such as your armpits or groyne), you may not suspect psoriasis. After all, psoriasis is recognised for thick scaly plaques on the knees and elbows. According to Dr Adil Moulanchikkal, Lead Ayurveda Specialist at EliteAyurveda Clinics, plaque psoriasis is one of seven forms of psoriasis, an inflammatory illness that produces inflammation in the skin and accelerates the proliferation of skin cells.
Inverse psoriasis is another form that affects the body’s hidden skin folds: armpits, groin and genitals, belly button, eyelids, and underneath breasts and buttocks. According to study on the prevalence of psoriasis types published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, inverse psoriasis is less prevalent than plaque psoriasis, which originates on exterior parts of skin such as knees and knuckles and affects 21% to 30% of patients with psoriasis. (In comparison, plaque psoriasis affects 80% to 90% of psoriasis patients.)
How Does Inverse Psoriasis Appear?
Because inverse psoriasis originates in the wet, sweating areas of skin folds, the scales seen in plaque psoriasis cannot form. Instead, the inflammation manifests itself as “lesions that look purplish or deep purple in darker skin and red or pink in lighter skin types,” according to Dr Adil Moulanchikkal, Lead Ayurveda Specialist at EliteAyurveda Clinics. She also mentions that the lesions may be smooth and shining.
According to Dr Adil, inverse psoriasis can be extremely painful. When the skin becomes inflamed, it presses against nerve endings in the area, causing discomfort, itching, and/or sensations of burning, stinging, and throbbing. According to Dr Adil, the more inflammation you can see, the more likely you are to feel. The skin never gets a break with inverse psoriasis. “It’s chronically irritated from friction and sweat,” adds Dr Adil.
Inverse psoriasis may sound similar to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a persistent skin disorder that develops in skin folds. However, with HS, inflammation appears as boils, lumps, and tunnels beneath the skin called sinus tracts.
Inverse Psoriasis Causes
No one knows for certain what causes psoriasis, but twin studies reveal that genetics is important, according to a study of genetics and psoriasis published in the Journal of Autoimmunity. Environmental factors as well as other variables such as weight, infections, stress, and drugs all play a role.
According to Dr Adil, if a person develops one kind of psoriasis, they are at risk of developing others. “There is usually no reason for the type or location of psoriasis.” Someone could have inverse psoriasis without having plaque psoriasis, or they could have plaque and later develop inverse.”
According to Dr Adil, inverse psoriasis is more common among overweight and obese psoriasis patients. Because skin traumas and trauma, in general, can produce new psoriasis lesions. The injury is frequently caused by a cut, scrape, sunburn, injections, or even a tattoo, but it can simply be caused by skin rubbing together and producing irritation over time. According to Dr Adil, extra weight may result in more uncomfortable skin-on-skin friction.
The Consequences of Inverse Psoriasis
According to Dr Adil, the chronic inflammation associated with inverse psoriasis “breaks down the skin barrier, making it susceptible to secondary yeast and bacterial infections.” (An odour originating from inflamed places is one indicator of these illnesses, she notes.) These infections, he continues, complicate diagnosis and therapy and might give patients the impression that they are in a never-ending cycle of therapies.
Dr Adil advises keeping the afflicted regions cold and dry to prevent bacteria colonization. She recommends wearing moisture-wicking pants and, if your skin tolerates it, using a fragrance-free, sensitive-formula antiperspirant. He adds that losing weight or keeping a healthy weight will also assist.
Other possible complications are emotional: Although inverse psoriasis typically affects a smaller percentage of skin body areas than plaque psoriasis, it can have a significant impact on quality of life, particularly on sexual function and body image, according to a study.
“People with psoriasis of all types have some of the lowest quality of life scores when compared to people with other medical conditions,” says Dr Adil. Furthermore, those with psoriasis are far more prone to suffer from despair and anxiety than those who do not have the chronic autoimmune skin disease. To make matters worse, studies have shown that depression and anxiety can cause or worsen inverse psoriasis.
Inverse Psoriasis Treatment
Treatment for inverse psoriasis, for the most part, resembles treatment for plaque and other kinds of psoriasis, with a few modifications. Here are some treatment options to consider with your dermatologist:
First to understand Psoriasis from a Ayurveda perspective.-
Skin diseases are categorized as Kushtha in Ayurveda. The term Kushta is used for the exposed disease. If we talk about Ayurveda, then there are around 18 types of the same and depending on the doshas these are different.
Psoriasis comes under the skin problem which is usually noticed in the form of skin lesions (swollen) and around them silvery-white scales. Vata is the reason, you will notice blackish or dry silvery plaque. Psoriasis comes with itching which occurs due to Kapha. Overall, the factors that cause psoriasis, according to Ayurveda, are plenty and the major one is heredity.
Second speaking on the available treatments other than Ayurveda for psoriasis treatment
Allopathy –
If you have moderate to severe psoriasis that hasn’t cleared with topical treatments, your doctor might recommend an injectable drug. Injectable drugs such as methotrexate (Otrexup, Rasuvo, and Trexall) and biologics can help clear up plaques and reduce inflammation. Here’s what you need to know about injections for psoriasis
For moderate to severe psoriasis that covers more than 5 to 10 percent of the body or is disabling, doctors recommend drugs called biologics. Biologics are man-made versions of proteins created from human cells. These drugs target specific parts of the immune system.
Because biologic drugs target your immune system, they can increase your risk of infections. These drugs might increase cancer risk too, but this hasn’t been proven. Two types of biologic drugs are approved to treat psoriasis: TNF-alpha inhibitors and interleukin inhibitors.
For mild to moderate psoriasis, doctors often suggest topical drugs first. Topical drugs are applied to your skin. They work to slow cell growth, remove scales, and relieve itching and inflammation. Examples of topical medications include:
Emollients: These moisturize your skin.
Steroid creams: These bring down swelling and redness.
Vitamin D analogues: These slow the production of skin cells and reduce inflammation.
Coal tar: This reduces scales, itching, and inflammation.
Phototherapy is another treatment for psoriasis. This treatment exposes your skin to ultraviolet light to slow cell growth.
Medicines for HS involving biologics, antibiotics or hormone therapy come with their own set of side effects like impacting the immune system balance (Biologics), or impacting the microbiome balance (antibiotics), or leading to hormonal imbalance (hormone therapy)
Finally, how treatment from Ayurveda from a proper specialist can help with Psoriasis reversal
If we talk about Ayurveda, then the focus is to put on detoxifying (Shodhana therapy) the body and it is included as the kushtha roga. With Ayurveda treatment, the focus is out on giving the Panchakarma treatment which makes sure that the problem will not occur again in the given time. In addition, it is going to make the doshas balanced and effectively manage everything in the body.
Shodhana therapy is considered to offer the best results with this skin problem. Following that other Ayurvedic treatments are suggested which includes:
· Rasayana
· Yoga
· Pranayama
· Meditation
All these are effective to manage the condition and also prevent the problem from recurring.
The major step towards treating psoriasis in Ayurveda is to regain the lost balance by detoxifying the body through Panchakarma treatments, especially medicated Enema, Virechana, and Vamana. Doing Shirodhara with medicated oils on the scalp would be beneficial for those suffering from scalp psoriasis. Lifestyle management, stress management, diet management, counseling and inclusion of yoga asanas are also a part of the treatment process.
My Perspective
· The best treatment should overall Improve your health, not riddle it with further side effects.
· The treatment being considered should show results and improve overall well being with respectable time of starting the treatment
· The recurrence rate or remission phase should be low
· The overall cost of treatment should not be high.
· The Treatment should not be only symptomatically treating the disease but treat the underlying cause which has caused the disease in first place
The right treatment will help you discover true health by taking a cohesive approach of balancing the body & mind to its natural state.
I can honestly vouch for our Ayurveda Treatment taking into consideration the thousands of patients worldwide now living psoriasis free.
Connect with me to get our patient testimonials and also to speak with our patients directly on their experience in getting their disease treated by us and by Ayurveda as a whole.
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