How to Prevent Psoriasis Flare-Ups
Manage Stress
Stress is the most common cause of psoriasis flare-ups. Lack of sleep, mental pressure, and exhaustion can trigger a response from the immune system.
How to prevent psoriasis? Strive to get the right amount of rest. Around 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep that is not induced by any drug is ideal. Avoid long naps and caffeine for these might affect your normal sleep cycle.
Breathing Exercises
Staying relaxed and calm is probably one of the best ways you can manage stress. Taking a deep breath, then exhaling slowly has proven to calm the body. Do this whenever you are feeling overwhelmed. Meditation and yoga are also good stress relievers that promote breathing exercises.
Eat Healthy and Regularly
Skipping meals and poor nutrition can cause your body to feel more agitated. Don’t skip breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and keep your meals balanced. Make sure to have a serving of fruits and vegetables daily and don’t forget to drink at least 8 glasses of water as well.
Avoid Skin Injury
Skin Injury can be in the form of scratches, burns, cuts, bruises, and bites. Flare-ups usually start 10-14 days after the skin injury, and the red patches grow in the area where you were injured.
Avoid Tattoos and Shaving
Shaving leads to cuts and tattoos generally pierce the skin. These cuts and injuries might lead to prolonged flare-ups.
Avoid Scratching
In areas where you’ve been bitten by an insect, avoid scratching as scratching leads to injured skin, which might cause a flare-up.
Treat Skin Injuries Immediately
Whether it is a cut, bruise, scratch, or burn make sure to treat it quickly. Apply topical treatments as frequently as prescribed. For severe burns and skin injuries, consult your dermatologist.
Do Not Abuse Substances
Many studies have found that psoriasis patients who drink and smoke have more frequent and prolonged flare-ups.
Stay Away From Smoking
Smoking is known to be addictive so do not start the habit at all. Aside from triggering flare-ups, smoking increases your risk of developing heart and lung problems.
Avoid Excessive Drinking
Binge-drinking can trigger adverse responses in your body that can lead to flare-ups. Limit your alcohol intake. Drinking too much can also lessen the efficacy of your psoriasis treatment.
Keep Your Skin Moisturized
Depending on the weather, some practices can cause the skin to dry. Avoid irritating your skin and keep it healthy and moisturized.
During the cold weather, avoid showering with hot water. Instead, use warm water to avoid agitating and drying the skin. Use soaps and cleansers that have moisturizers and limit your bath to 10 minutes.
Avoid Dry Skin
Whenever you feel that your skin is drying, apply moisturizers especially on areas that are more exposed such as your hands, arms, feet, or legs. Don’t spend too much time under air-conditioning and stay far from the heater.
Key Takeaways
Psoriasis cannot be prevented because it is hereditary. But psoriasis flare-ups can be avoided and managed. There are many ways on how to prevent psoriasis flare-ups and they have a lot to do with lifestyle adjustments.
Managing stress and avoiding substance abuse have positive impacts on your health which reduces the chances of having flare-ups. Avoiding skin injuries and keeping the skin healthy are also ways to avoid psoriasis flare-ups.
Learn more about Psoriasis here.
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