Can Stress Cause Psoriasis

Can Stress Cause Psoriasis

Ever Wondered If Stress Can Cause Psoriasis?

Can stress cause psoriasis to flare, or even initiate it in the first place? This is a very interesting question and one that has been answered through many scientific studies over the years. For example, in one study, skin wounds on the arms of women who had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol had lower levels of key compounds released by the body to mediate healing.

Stress may make it easier for germs to infect skin wounds as researchers have proved. Investigators created skin wounds in mice that were exposed to stressful living conditions. The researchers then applied Streptococcus bacteria to the wounds, and compared the healing rates of the stressed mice with those of mice with skin wounds that were also exposed to the bacteria but did not undergo the same levels of stress. Mice that had been stressed out prior to wounding and infection showed a 30% delay in wound healing at 3 and 5 days compared with the mice that were not stressed, the report indicates.

In addition, the investigators found that after 5 days, the stressed mice had over 100,000 times more opportunistic bacteria in their wounds than the non-stressed mice. Seven days after the bacteria exposure, about 85% of the wounds in the stressed mice were infected, versus about 27% of the wounds in the non-stressed mice. In this study, stress increased the rate of wound infection by threefold. Stress disrupts the body’s equilibrium, in turn significantly impairing its ability to control and eradicate bacterial infection during wound healing. When you look at these kinds of results you begin to realise the stress can cause psoriasis to worsen considerably.

Can you see the relevance here with the above mentioned mouse study and psoriasis, stress and infection? Chronic stress, which has been called our number one health problem, is not something to take lightly, it can have profound effects on your immune system and your overall health, and if you want to recover from psoriasis you will need to understand this concept, learn from it and take it seriously.

Stress-Related Health Problem – The Main Reason People See Doctors

Estimates have placed stress-related problems as the cause of 75 percent to 90 percent of all primary care physician visits. Psycho-neuro-immunology is a whole new field that studies the effects of psychological stress on the immune system. Scientists in this area have demonstrated alterations in the normal function of immune cells in animals during times of stress. For example, excessive physical stress changes your immune cell profile. Increased upper respiratory tract infections occur in athletes who over-train, and a decreased cell-mediated immunity has been demonstrated in such athletes. Without a properly functioning immune system, your body is vulnerable to invasion by opportunistic germs such as candida albicans, viruses, bacteria and various parasites.

It is not practical to advise you to avoid stress because, let’s face it; we all have stress in our lives from one degree to another. What is practical, however, is to emphasize to you the importance of recognizing stress in yourself and others and more importantly in dealing with stress before it takes a toll on your health. There now exists ample scientific evidence to suggest that stress impairs the immune system, which allows underlying infections to cause damage.

Stress and Psoriasis Link is a Scientific Fact

There will be those who read this book and feel that there is little proof of a link between stress and psoriasis, but I can tell you from the research I have done when I wrote the Psoriasis Program, that this is certainly not the case. Just as in many dermatologic conditions, psoriasis appears to worsen with stress in a significant segment of patients, there are an incredible amount of studies which report that the proportion of psoriasis patients who respond quite strongly to stress and who notice skin aggravations in relation to stressful event ranges from 37% to an incredible 78%2.  You may also like to read Stress And Psoriasis.

Relaxation And Meditation Calm The Mind And Fight Stress

Relaxation techniques can also be useful when stress becomes overwhelming. Yoga is a discipline I call “meditation in motion”, it can lead to mental clarity, greater self-understanding, and a feeling of well being, along with improved physical fitness. Many people experience benefits not only because of the physical stretching and muscle strengthening but also because of the meditative state that is encouraged. Have you ever considered that regular Yoga or Tai Chi may have a positive effect on your skin? They are both wonderful and will add a whole new dimension to your life.

Meditation is another technique that will allow you to calm your mind and fight stress. Meditating can help you to focus your thoughts on relaxing images or principles. Meditation has been shown in a 1998 study3 to have a most positive effect on reducing the skin aggravations as well as the duration of skin lesions in those with psoriasis. It can also help you to examine your daily life and determine what activities are contributing to your stress. The bottom line is that stress shuts down either the recruitment or the function of those immune cells needed to fight skin inflammation and infection. Awareness of adrenal fatigue along with the correct treatment can significantly help by supporting the hormonal

You may also like to read more about psoriasis and stress here:

Psoriasis and Stress are Linked

Emotional Stress is a Psoriasis Trigger

Coping With Psoriasis

Coping With Psoriasis

Are You Coping With Psoriasis?

I’ve seen plenty of patients over the years who were embarrassed about their psoriasis and who have tried to hide their lesions with long sleeves, scarves, pants and other items of clothing. It’s harder to hide psoriasis when this chronic skin problem affects your face, hands, above your ears or hairline, and even harder for those who are sensitive to hide the embarrassment they feel when out and about in public.

Many people with moderate to severe psoriasis may even dread the warmer months, spending time at the beach, going to the gym, playing golf or even just being seen out in public in general in summer clothes.

I remember a male patient in his fifties a few years ago asking me how he could explain to people that his guttate psoriasis was not contagious, and a young woman in her twenties who was finding it hard to establish an intimate relationship with a male partner because of the way she felt about her scalp psoriasis.

So what are some solutions if you want to be seen out and about, to be able to relax when going to a restaurant, on holidays near the pool or at a shopping mall? Just how are you going to explain to people that your psoriasis is not a contagious skin condition? Some people with moderate to severe psoriasis believe that the only option open to them is rather aggressive psoriasis medical therapy, and for a small percentage who are very severely affected with severe psoriasis it may well even be worth it because of the adverse psychological effects, and how they feel about the quality of their life. For many patients with major psoriasis, a reduction in their severe skin symptoms will most probably change the way they feel about their life significantly for the better. Always bearing in mind however, that their psoriasis may flare up at any given time, being the unpredictable condition that it sometimes can be.

Here are several psoriasis coping strategies for you, ideas that may well help you to adjust your life more around people who don’t have this annoying complaint.

Understand Your Psoriasis

I always encourage patients to become aware of their condition, especially chronic diseases like moderate to severe psoriasis that don’t go away in a hurry and can come and go throughout their lives. This is one of the big reasons I wrote The Psoriasis Program, to help educate my patients. The more you know about the signs and symptoms, and particularly your particular triggers, the more likelihood there will be that you will be more easily able to respond to people who know a lot less about psoriasis and who make comments based on ignorance.

Some people who are blissfully unaware of what psoriasis is may even be afraid to sit close to you thinking that psoriasis is contagious, they may make rude comments or inadvertently stare. A good tip to become educated as much as you can about your psoriasis, that way you will be able to educate others, thereby reducing the stigma associated with skin diseases.

Change The Way You Think About Psoriasis

You may not be able to change or control the way others think about your psoriasis, but you can certainly change the way you think about it. One of the best ways to cope with those skin flares is to accept the fact that there will always be somebody out in public who may inappropriately stare or makes a comment. It’s not your problem; rather it’s their problem if they have any issues about the way you look.

The same may go for people who are short or tall, those who have a different skin colour, those who make look “different” and maybe don’t fit in with norm, and there will always be that one person who will need to make it obvious. Discrimination is certainly not new; and by adjusting your attitude and changing the way you think about your psoriasis rather than expecting an ignorant or misinformed person to change theirs, you will be a whole lot happier the sooner you accept this rather than later.

Don’t Hide Your Psoriasis

Life is too short not to enjoy it to the full, and by living your life with fear and worry about what others may think about you because of your skin is to compromise. I have certainly noticed that stress is one of the key psoriasis triggers for many, and self-imposed stress caused by concern about what others may think about how your look can be one of the most significant of all the emotional triggers.

By not hiding your skin under layers of clothing and “coming out”, understanding that you have nothing to be fearful about, you will be surprised that everybody who cares about you will understand about what you are going through and how you must feel.

Look For Support

I’ve always encouraged those with major psoriasis to join a support group, especially if they are sensitive or easily stressed. That way you will be in an environment with like-minded people, and learn many different tips and tricks that work for others who are in the same boat as you. One of the key reasons I created this website was to encourage you to take charge of your own psoriasis not only from a self-treatment perspective, but to seek out professional help when needed and not to be afraid to put your hand up for help. I’ve seen more than a few chronic psoriasis patients over the years that were too ashamed or embarrassed to seek help.

Many of the “secrets” you will find on this website come from psoriasis sufferers who were kind enough to share these secrets with me, their doctor. They asked me for support and shared their successes. Remember, you are NOT alone with psoriasis, according to the National Psoriasis Institute, psoriasis affects up to 7.5 million people in the United States, or 2.2 percent of the population.

You should most certainly seek professional help if your psoriasis is causing you to become depressed or very anxious. Proper treatment and support can help you cope and help you understand not only what is happening to your body, but why you feel the way you do about it. You can develop excellent skills for coping and learn to fight back.

Children With Psoriasis

Children with psoriasis are particularly prone because of the teasing and bullying that may occur in the school playground. Kinds tend to emotionally a lot more vulnerable than adults, so it is very important for moms and dads in particular to speak with their child’s teachers, and especially their physical education teacher or coach about their psoriasis so that they are not ridiculed around other children. There are also support groups around for children with psoriasis, where they can feel safe and supported.

It is important to remember that discrimination is not a new thing when it comes to psoriasis, people with skin conditions such as psoriasis have ben stigmatized for many thousands of years. But with the right mind-set, strategies, knowledge and understanding of psoriasis and a good level of personal and professional support you can enjoy life just as much as a person without psoriasis.

12 Steps To Boosting Immunity And Relieving Stress

12 Steps To Boosting Immunity And Relieving Stress

Boosting Immunity And Relieving Stress Are Important When You Have Psoriasis

Do you take time out regularly? Stress is quite possibly one of the biggest triggers when it comes to psoriasis, and learning how to relax is vital if you are to finally reduce and ultimately eliminate those regular bouts of psoriasis once and for all.

Article of interest: natural psoriasis treatment

Is it really possible to achieve this? Absolutely, after having been in clinical practice for over twenty years, I’ve seen many patients learn the connection between stress and their psoriasis and make the changes necessary.

But I’ve also seen plenty of people who weren’t interested in learning about how stress in their lives is connected to their psoriasis. If you are interested, then you will find this page of much use, but you will learn much more in The Psoriasis Program.

1. Find the stress leaks in your life and plug them up. The first thing to do is to admit that stress certainly does play a role in your life, it occurs in everyone’s life. I am amazed how many people who won’t even admit they stress in their lives, any kind of stress. Ask yourself why and how you are letting stress get to you and what you can do to mitigate the responses stress is having in your life (and more importantly on your health) right now. Examine any tension (hot) spots in your body regularly, like the sides of your jaw, neck, upper back, shoulders and lower back. Are you slowing down when you walk, talk and eat? 2. Reduce stress in your life right NOW. One of the most important points you will learn if you study psychology is that there are three things that you can do when you are in a difficult or stressful situation: 1. You can change the situation 2. You can change yourself to fit or adapt to the situation. 3. You can leave the situation. Remember that stresses are additive and cumulative. Removing or neutralizing your largest source of stress can make a very significant difference to your overall health and wellbeing. Most of the time, if you take care of the big stresses, the smaller ones will take care of themselves. Your body has a natural ability to handle stress and remain healthy. It is only when the stresses are overwhelming in quantity, duration or intensity that the systems like your immune system in your body start to break down. 3. Next, minimize any unnecessary stress in your life right now. What is one of the biggest things causing you stress right now? Maybe you are a worrier? Do you panic over your weight, your job, or your health or the health of your family or friends? Try concentrating on resolving the problem rather than on focusing on it by completing small action steps a few times each day until you have resolved the issue, this will give you a sense of empowerment and lead you on to the resolution of bigger stresses in your life. It is easier for you to concentrate for shorter than longer periods of time initially, with experience you will be much more able to tackle the biggest stress in your life. 4. Reverse negative stress by walking each day. One of the best stress busting exercises is to simply go for a five to ten minute walk each day. Walking would have to be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to reduce the impact of stress in your life. Did you know that just by walking for twenty minutes a day three times a week, you could lower your cholesterol levels by a staggering 15 percent? Walking has a particularly favorable effect on balancing many of your body’shormones, especially your stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol and has proven to be a great stress disruptor which helps you think about other things apart from what your mind generally focuses on. Try it; you will be surprised just how uplifting a brisk walk can be, especially when your mood is low. 5. Look at your diet, each and every day. Didyou know that foods could have an effect on the way your body will react to a stressful event in your life? Your body can react to a diet high in sugars and refined foods (white flour, white sugar, soda drinks, processed foods, etc.) the same way it will react when you worry about your mortgage payments, your waistline or your job security. 6. The art of relaxation, are you getting enough? It is important to balance work and play, make sure you take time out to relax every day and ensure you get plenty of sleep. Since studying stress and adrenal fatigue, I now recommend that all my patients have a quiet period of at least 15 to 20 minutes of afternoon relaxation to help powerfully build up their adrenal and immune health. Can’t manage every day? Then start by doing this on the weekends and at least one day during the week. Some folk manage this well in their offices, others in their cars, if you improvise you will find a way to have this afternoon chill-out session which can be a great aid in boosting your ability to withstand stress to a much higher degree. 7. Reducing stress and anxiety through self-observation. You may be surprised to know just how quickly you run to the phone, eat your meals, take a shower, drive your car, buy your groceries, or engage in any one of a hundred other regular activities. Have you ever given yourself permission to slow down a little? Too many patients I see lead hurried and worried lives, and have become obsessed at completing one task before launching into several other without ever coming up for air. Pretend you are watching over your own shoulder and see how you next respond to any demand placed on you, this may come as a surprise to you. Relax when you walk to that phone, eat more slowly and chew each mouthful many more times than you normally would. Allow plenty of time to get to those meetings and arrive five minutes early and not ten minutes late, apologizing to everyone. By all means have a task list, but prioritize your tasks and be sure to place relaxation sessions, spending times with loved ones and walking on those lists – as priorities. 8. Look at increasing the parasympathetic dominators in your life. In Section 5 of this chapter I will expand greatly on some very important information with regards to your nervous system’s regulation of your immune system, digestive system, and in fact most all of your body’s functionality. It sounds more complicated than it is, but I’m certain that I can explain this concept to you quite easily. If you can grasp the message here and balance your autonomic nervous system (your sympathetic or “stressed out” and parasympathetic or “chilled out” nervous system) then you will be light years ahead over others who think they can beat a yeast infection with diet and supplements alone. This information alone is worth the price you paid for this book, and in fact it will be priceless if you put it into practice. By incorporating some information I’m going to discuss in detail in Section 5, The Power of your Parasympathetic Nervous System, you will be delighted with how your body will not only rapidly crush your candida once and for all, but improve your overall health and wellbeing to a remarkably high level. And all of this because it is most capable of getting your health back on track in the first place, after all, your body was designed to heal itself. 9. Do you have adrenal fatigue? Have you completed the self-help questionnaire and read the section above relating to adrenal fatigue? Can you relate to adrenal fatigue? If the answer is a resounding “YES”, then you need help! Contact your practitioner and see if he or she is familiar with Dr. Wilson’s Adrenal fatigue Program. By rebuilding your tired and worn out adrenals you will have a much better chance of beating the beast called yeast. Perhaps you have only partially recovered when you treated your yeast infection, but not fully? Maybe you are constantly relapsing, getting well, and then sick again? All too often, a practitioner will treat just the yeast infection by way of diet and supplements, this is my experience, but overlook the fact that their patient has suffered from many stressful events in their life, including their chronic yeast infection, a BIG stress in its own right. 10. Learn the links. I would like to mention how important it is to remember the link between your yeast infection, immune system, and more particularly how stress and poor adrenal function can dramatically hinder your full recovery. Knowledge only becomes power when it is applied knowledge; so apply your understanding of the level of your adrenal health right now and how it relates to your yeast infection. Get treatment if appropriate and be amazed at the power of your immune system. 11. Boosting glandular function. Don’t forget that you may need to boost your glandular function, but be sure to get expert advice before you proceed. If you can recognize adrenal fatigue and/or hypothyroidism and in addition you have a yeast infection, I would not recommend home-treatments when it comes to glandular therapy (unless you are a qualified doctor) but rather seek out the experience of a health-care professional who has worked with glandular medicines, that way you are bound to get the best possible and least expensive results in the long run. 12. Learn the art of relaxation. Relax and slow down each day until it becomes an ingrained habit. Stressful and anxious people are much more prone to immune system problems, and will find it more easy to fall victim to a yeast infection.

Can you recognize more than four of the above 16 different stress warning signals? If you can confidently say “YES” to at least four of the above then you are certainly suffering from acute stress right now. Changing well-established habits is never easy. Because stress is accumulative, reducing any strains on your body is beneficial, and you will find it considerably easier and more effective to work on the smaller stress-related issues in your life right now than wait until they eventually develop into a full-blown health crisis like a heart attack.

Sorry, but hiding the symptoms of stress will not get rid of the strain on your body. Early treatment of stress-related health problems is most effective, especially if you want to prevent premature illness. Feelings of irritation or anger, tension in your neck or shoulders, sweaty palms or heart palpitations, tossing and turning at night and so forth are all early warning signs that your body is keeping itself unnaturally “revved up”, and it is your sympathetic nervous system which is at work here.

It is clever for you to understand that if you focus your attention to stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system that you will be able to bring peace and harmony back once more, and restore the balance.

Stress is increasingly becoming recognized as a major contributor to heart disease, cancer and strokes, and these three are some of the most common causes of death and disability in my country and no doubt in your country as well. They may be traced, in part, to how we mismanage the stressors in our lives. But like I have shown above, there are many hundreds of studies that now show that stress is one of the major triggers in psoriasis and other auto-immune diseases. Let’s take a look at how stress can aggravate certain psoriasis symptoms.

Recognizing Stress-Related Psoriasis Symptom Aggravations

The typical stress warning symptoms above apply, but what you may well notice is an exacerbation of some of the key problems you have been experiencing. Two of the most common aggravation areas with psoriasis and stress are the digestive system and the skin. I have found that the gut often becomes affected with stress, because as you will soon read, your sympathetic nervous system reduces the blood supply to the digestive system in favor of routing the blood to the larger skeletal muscles of the body in case you need to escape from a stressful event. The movement of stool in the large intestine is slowed down (inhibition of peristalsis), Your digestive secretions (pancreas, stomach and small intestine) are reduced likewise, because you don’t need an optimally functioning digestive system when you are running away were running away from a dinosaur a long time ago. Today we are not so fortunate, we can run but we never really seem to recover from one stress to another.

 

Recognizing Stress In Yourself

Recognizing Stress In Yourself

No true healing can take place unless there has been a change in the patient’s outlook. Dr. Edward Bach

Recognizing stress in yourself is very important if you have psoriasis, and are serious about your recovery. I believe that the real key is to permanent recovery from those recurring psoriasis flare-ups is in recognizing stress and how it affects your body, and this differs from person to person. Here are some typical stress warning signals; can you recognize any of them?

Feeling unable to slow-down and relax Explosive anger in response to minor irritation Anxiety or tension lasting more than a few days Feeling that things frequently go wrong in your life Can’t focus your complete attention Regular or continual sleeping problems Aching neck and shoulders Lower back pain Regular indigestion or heartburn Heart palpitations or awareness of your heart beating Increased consumption of alcohol Overeating, especially of sweet foods Frequent low-grade infections Regular psoriasis skin flare-ups Severe skin flare-ups causing scratching and bleeding Shortness of breath Constipation or diarrhea Loss of appetite or low-grade nausea

Can you recognize more than four of the above 16 different stress warning signals? If you can confidently say “YES” to at least four of the above then you are certainly suffering from acute stress right now. Changing well-established habits is never easy. Because stress is accumulative, reducing any strains on your body is beneficial, and you will find it considerably easier and more effective to work on the smaller stress-related issues in your life right now than wait until they eventually develop into a full-blown health crisis like a heart attack.

Sorry, but hiding the symptoms of stress will not get rid of the strain on your body. Early treatment of stress-related health problems is most effective, especially if you want to prevent premature illness. Feelings of irritation or anger, tension in your neck or shoulders, sweaty palms or heart palpitations, tossing and turning at night and so forth are all early warning signs that your body is keeping itself unnaturally “revved up”, and it is your sympathetic nervous system which is at work here.

It is clever for you to understand that if you focus your attention to stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system that you will be able to bring peace and harmony back once more, and restore the balance.

Stress is increasingly becoming recognized as a major contributor to heart disease, cancer and strokes, and these three are some of the most common causes of death and disability in my country and no doubt in your country as well. They may be traced, in part, to how we mismanage the stressors in our lives. But like I have shown above, there are many hundreds of studies that now show that stress is one of the major triggers in psoriasis and other auto-immune diseases. Let’s take a look at how stress can aggravate certain psoriasis symptoms.

Recognizing Stress-Related Psoriasis Symptom Aggravations

The typical stress warning symptoms above apply, but what you may well notice is an exacerbation of some of the key problems you have been experiencing. Two of the most common aggravation areas with psoriasis and stress are the digestive system and the skin. I have found that the gut often becomes affected with stress, because as you will soon read, your sympathetic nervous system reduces the blood supply to the digestive system in favor of routing the blood to the larger skeletal muscles of the body in case you need to escape from a stressful event. The movement of stool in the large intestine is slowed down (inhibition of peristalsis), Your digestive secretions (pancreas, stomach and small intestine) are reduced likewise, because you don’t need an optimally functioning digestive system when you are running away were running away from a dinosaur a long time ago. Today we are not so fortunate, we can run but we never really seem to recover from one stress to another.

Verified by ExactMetrics