A Short Description On How To Manage Psoriasis On Your Hands

Why Hands Need Special Care

For the scales and patches that happen with psoriasis, your hands can be a sensitive spot. Making cracks and blisters extra painful and itchy are the daily tasks or washing up. Called palmoplantar, affecting the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet is a type of psoriasis some people get. 

Moisturize Daily

Every day uses moisturiser on your hands. Helping it heal, it lessens the redness, protecting your skin. A fragrance-free product can do the job. Choose an ointment or heavy cream instead of lotion as the thicker it is, the better it will hydrate your skin. You can even use cooking oil or shortening in a pinch. After you shower, wash your hands, or do dishes, always moisturise. 

Don't Linger in the Tub

Making your symptoms worse, long hot baths and showers can dry out your hands. Keep it short with 5 minutes in the shower and 15 in the bath and try to take no more than once a day. It is better to use warm and not hot water along with soap for sensitive skin. As they can be hard on your hands, skip loofahs and washcloths. Gently pat your skin with a towel and put on cream while your hands are still damp once you are done. 

Keep Your Hands Warm and Dry

When you are outdoors during chilly weather gloves help prevent your hands from drying out. Choose a style made of natural, soft fibers like cotton if you can. Than gloves made of wool, they are less likely to make psoriasis worse. It could make your hands itch more when washing them with fragrance-free laundry soap and skip the fabric softener. 

Steroid Cream

A common treatment for mild psoriasis is corticosteroid cream. It helps in making the skin less inflamed as well as red. Your doctor might need to look at your hands to figure out which one you should try since corticosteroids come in different strengths. It’s best to only use it for short periods as over time the steroid cream can thin your skin or stop working. 

Salicylic Acid

Helping your skin get rid of dead skin cells more quickly is the gentle acid which is also found in some acne creams. Here it makes your hands look smoother as well as less scaly. Your doctor can prescribe a stronger version or you can find some salicylic acid products at the pharmacy. 

Coal Tar

Made from coal of some types of wood are coal tar. It can help your hands feel less itchy, inflamed, and red, as it slows the growth of your skin cells. It does come tricky to use. It also results in staining clothes and light-coloured hair. People are complaining about their strong odor. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, coal tar isn’t safe to use. 

Sunlight

It can improve psoriasis on your hands as a little sunshine won’t just brighten your outlook. Naturally slowing down the activity of your skin cells is the ultraviolet rays. You may notice that your hands start to look less scaly and inflamed spending time outside every day. Though don’t overdo it. Making your psoriasis worse is too much sun. 

Light Therapy

They might suggest that you try light therapy if your doctor thinks more light than what you get outside could help your hands. You will get short bursts of UV rays either from a special light source or a laser in your doctor’s office. Before you start to notice a difference, you may need several sessions even though it doesn’t hurt. 

Care for Your Nails

Noticing changes in their nails are about a third of people with psoriasis. It is observed that pitting, holes, or colour changes happen. Also, your nails could start to loosen. To protect them always keep them short. When you clean, cook, or wash dishes wear vinyl gloves. Wear cotton liners underneath gloves for extra care if you already have nail issues. 

Know Your Triggers

Stress, getting sick like with strep throat and some medications are some common things that can trigger your psoriasis. What they eat, allergies, and the weather inflame their hands even more as many people also feel. Write it down when you have a flare. This will help you see patterns and know what triggers to avoid overtime. 

Avoid Cuts, Scratches, and Bug Bites

Making your psoriasis flare is anything that harms the skin on your hands. Clean and take care of it right away if you get a cut. Quit picking at scabs. Do your best not to scratch it if you get an itchy bug bite. It leads to making your psoriasis worse. Use a cold compress to get some relief instead. 

Gently Slough off Scales

A warm hand soak can give you some relief although a hot shower or bath will dry out your hands. Soak your hands in a bowl of water with bath oil, oatmeal, or Epsom salts in it. Easing itching it can help slough off scaly skin. Gently pat extra water from your hands with a towel and moisturise as soon as you can after limiting your soak to just a few minutes. 

Prescription Drugs

Your doctor may prescribe a strong medicine that you take by mouth if skin creams don’t help. To curb your skin cell growth, drugs like methotrexate and cyclosporine slows down your immune system. These drugs can have severe side effects and aren’t a good choice for everyone whereas you may see your hand psoriasis improve within a month or two. 

As A Bottom Line, Keep Trying

To get psoriasis on your hand under control, it can take a while. Here no single treatment works well for everyone. Before your hands start to look and feel better, you may need to try a few different things. It helps to manage when you keep track of the changes you make as well as treatments you try along with the results you get. Your doctor decides your next step based on this