Although Skiles still has a few psoriasis patches on her elbows, knee, and scalp, her confidence has improved to the point where she now wears sleeveless shirts and skirts that show her skin—something she never did before. “Psoriasis used to impact what I wore because I wanted to cover my skin,” Skiles says.
3. “I participate in my life again.”
Kendra Gerein, 27, was diagnosed with psoriasis when she was just a year old. She says her skin was always dry, itchy, inflamed, scaly, and painful, which affected her life in every way.
Gerein had a bad experience with treatment as a child—the details are fuzzy but it ended with her becoming so itchy that she was hospitalized at age 6. After that experience, Gerein didn’t take any prescribed medications for her psoriasis, and her pain got worse.
“I would not go to events or join in on fun activities due to discomfort, insecurities, and irritability,” Gerein tells SELF. “I remember my parents took me to the Grand Canyon and I barely got out of the vehicle because the wind hurt my skin, my knees were cracked so I couldn’t walk, and I constantly scratched,” she says.
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Now, Gerein has figured out a skin-care routine, with the help of her dermatologist, that has greatly reduced her psoriasis flare-ups. She takes Epsom salt baths, uses moisturizing, fragrance-free lotions and soaps, and manages her stress as much as possible. Stress can trigger psoriasis, and Gerein notices a correlation between her stress level and frequency of flare-ups.
Gerein only has a few plaques during flare-ups, which has transformed her life. “I have more energy, I am happier, and I participate in my life again,” she says. “I love the outdoors now,” she says. One of her new favorite activities is swimming in the ocean. “The water used to sting so badly that I didn’t experience many ocean swims or activities when we were on vacation,” she says.
4. “The psoriasis seems more predictable than it was in the past.”
Samantha Holmgren, 31, was diagnosed with psoriasis when she was just two years old. “It went away for a while when I was a kid but came back around age 10 or so,” she tells SELF.
At one point, psoriasis plaques covered Holmgren’s neck, back, and calf and dotted her lower back and thighs. In her teens and early 20s, Holmgren only wore clothes that hid her psoriasis, which kept popping up all over her body. “I was never quite comfortable in my skin,” she says. Several years ago, Holmgren started using a high-strength prescription steroid cream, which reduced her psoriasis plaques so only her ears and scalp were affected. When she became pregnant in 2020, Holmgren switched to an over-the-counter steroid cream that comes with fewer side effects—and she still uses it. “I just have to remember to use the cream every day to get the psoriasis back under control,” she says. “I’m getting fewer new patches showing up. The psoriasis seems more predictable than it was in the past,” she says. Even more importantly, Holmgram says she feels more comfortable and confident in her skin. In fact, she wore a sleeveless dress at her wedding in 2017 despite having plaques on her shoulder. “That was the moment I realized how far I’d come in feeling comfortable and confident.”
Source: SELF
