What You Need To Know About Scalp Psoriasis – Part 2

Medication for Itchiness

Helping you is the use of antihistamine pills. To numb itching, you can also ask your doctor or pharmacist about products with capsaicin in it and about anesthetics you put on your skin. 

You can talk with your doctor about other options that include antidepressants and medications for neurological pain like gabapentin when the itch is intense. 

Symptom: Pain

Whether its because your scalp gets so dry that it cracks or you had to give in to scratching, a flare-up can hurt. Whereas there are many things you can do. 

Solutions For Pain

Treating and controlling your psoriasis is the best way to keep it away. Try a scale softening product (keratolytic) to keep scales in check before they can flake and crack. It is better when you look for these active ingredients like salicylic acid, lactic acid, urea, or phenol. To lock in moisture, it helps when you use a moisturiser. 

Talk with your doctor about other options when over-the-counter medicines aren’t enough. It may help to use a prescription-strength numbing cream that is a combo of lidocaine and prilocaine. 

Symptom: Depression

When you have psoriasis, things can be tough. To control the flakes, itch, and pain you may have to work every day. Getting discouraged by treatments as well as those that work for a while and then don’t is observed in the conditions of many. It can be that it is much harder to deal with when people are rude about their condition. It is good to remember that you may have many treatment options and ways to feel better. 

What You Can Do: Reach Out

Consider getting help from a mental health professional like a counsellor if you have been feeling low for a while. Try building a good support system. Through the National Psoriasis Foundation, you can join a psoriasis help group. Especially with people who understand, it can make you feel better to talk about what you are going through. They help you to remember that you are more than your skin. 

Hair Loss

You can lose hair for a while if your scales get thick. Once your psoriasis gets under control and your skin heals, it usually grows back. 

It may cause hair breakage and loss if you are using salicylic acid as a treatment. Once you stop the treatment it will also stop. If you are taking a retinoid, the same thing can happen. 

Be gentle when you get rid of scales as a general rule. Feel confident as you are in the meantime. Use it as an opportunity to rock some new headwear be it a hat, scarf, or wig if you want some camouflage. 

More Your Doctor Can Do

Your doctor may suggest other options if shampoos, creams, foams, gels, or sprays aren’t enough to control your scalp psoriasis. Working for some people is the ultraviolet B therapy coming as a light aimed directly at lesions usually in a doctor’s office. 

Also comes medications called biologics. Here some are received through a vein or others are taken as a shot. Suppressing the immune system, you can speak about your options with your doctor. 

Other Things You Can Do: Keep It Moist

Making dry skin worse is the dry air. It can help when using a home humidifier. 
To seal in moisture, after you shampoo tries a good conditioner. Gently rub it onto your scalp instead of your hair anytime you put something on to treat your psoriasis. It has a better chance of working this way. 

De-stress

One of the biggest flare triggers is stress. To unwind, pause each day. Always keep doing something you enjoy. Go, get a cup of tea, stretch, call those guided mindfulness meditations online. According to one small study, people who did UV phototherapy and listened to meditation tapes did better than those who just did phototherapy. Taking to a therapist can help you. Having had success with this is people with other skin conditions. Here we find them being helpful to deal with stress and the emotional load that comes with skin issues. 

What To Avoid: Medicines, Sunburn, And More

It can be irritating with some ingredients in shampoos like sulphates and some medicines like lithium or malaria drugs. 

Different people report problems when they do the following 
-- when living in a dry climate. (It helps to moisturize.)
-- when getting sunburned. (Seek shade, wear a hat, and use sunscreen.)
-- when blow-drying their hair. (Air dries or gently towel dry instead.)
What are the other ways to avoid flares? Don’t smoke, and pass on alcohol.

Concluding With What Else You Can Do

Stick to it when you set up a treatment plan with your doctor. If it’s not working, don’t be afraid to talk with her about changing. Consider getting a second option if you still haven’t gotten relief. You can find a way to start feeling better when you work together.