What’s the best natural treatment for psoriasis? Your complete psoriasis warrior strategy!
Psoriasis is a bit of a mystery. It affects more than 125 million people worldwide but no one knows exactly what causes it, and everyone is on the hunt for the best natural treatment for psoriasis.
Psoriasis occurs when skin cells regenerate faster than normal. Usually, over a month or so, skin cells form deep in the skin, rise to the surface and fall off. For people with psoriasis, this process can happen over just a few days. The rapid turnover creates a build-up of dead cells on the skin’s surface, leading to psoriasis’ red patches and scaling.
But think about it: in a way, people with psoriasis are super-cell generators. It’s just that the body can’t keep up with this fast cell-making power. Maybe people with psoriasis are more like Wolverine, the super-regenerating superhero!
However, even if you are a superstar skin cell producer, the itching, scaling and redness from psoriasis sometimes takes super-human endurance to manage. Living with psoriasis can be frustrating, exhausting and painful.
Traditional treatments for psoriasis
There is no cure for psoriasis but many treatments have been developed, including:
- – topical creams such as steroids
- – UV light therapy and laser therapy
- – oral or injected medications.
Each of these can be successful at treating psoriasis symptoms but some contain strong, toxic chemicals that can have nasty side effects. This has led to more curiosity about natural and holistic methods to the tackle super-charged skin cells.
Psoriasis Warrior Strategy: the 10 best natural treatments for psoriasis
Even though psoriasis has no known cause, various environmental factors tend to make it flare up. Much of being a psoriasis warrior is all about prevention – putting on your psoriasis protection before it strikes. Some common psoriasis triggers include:
- – Smoking and second-hand smoke
- – Drinking a lot of alcohol
- – Certain medications — including lithium, high blood pressure medication and antimalarial drugs
- – Suddenly stopping steroid medication
Our Psoriasis Warrior Strategy is all about reducing inflammation in the body: this inflammation is thought to make psoriasis much worse. Calming inflammation is the key to the best natural treatments for psoriasis.
Step 1 – Keep your skin moisturised.
Dry skin makes psoriasis itchier than ever. Be diligent about applying moisturiser twice a day all over your body. Avoid harsh soap that dries the skin. If the air where you live is very dry, you can think about using a humidifier to add moisture to the air.
Step 2 – Keep cool
Staying cool, both literally and by not getting stressed (more on that soon) is crucial for keeping inflammation at bay. Being too hot can make your skin itchy and red so use warm water instead of hot water in the shower. Turn on air conditioning indoors when it’s hot. Keep cold packs in your freezer and apply them to itchy spots to cool them down.
Step 3 – Don’t scratch.
Scratching only relieves the itch temporarily and actually makes your skin itchier because it stimulates the nerve fibres in your skin. Cover the itchy area with clothing or even a bandage. Keep your nails short so that they won’t tear your skin if you scratch.
Step 4 – Avoid infections
Infections are known to trigger psoriasis because they stress the immune system and increase inflammation. Psoriasis flare-ups can occur after an earache, tonsillitis, a cold or skin infection.
Avoid infection by:
- – washing hands often
- – not sharing food, drinks or utensils
- – keeping a distance from people who are sick
- – wearing masks
Step 5 – Prevent skin injuries
Injuries to the skin, such as sunburn or scratches can activate psoriasis. Be careful when doing outside activities:
- – use sunscreen and wear a hat when you’re outside
- – wear long sleeves and gloves when gardening
- – apply insect repellent when outdoors
Step 6 – Diet
Some foods are known to trigger inflammation in the body and can also stimulate psoriasis. Aim to reduce your intake of:
- – red meat
- – refined sugar
- – processed foods
- – dairy products
Some people swear that a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, whole grains and fish lowers inflammation in the body. One study showed that those who reported eating a diet similar to the Mediterranean diet were less likely to have psoriasis.
Step 7 – Stress relief
Stress and inflammation go hand in hand. As a peaceful psoriasis warrior, easing the symptoms of stress must be a major focus of your prevention strategy. How?
- Exercise:
Physical activity boosts endorphins and relieves stress. It also reduces symptoms of mild depression and anxiety, which are both known to increase inflammation in the body. Exercise also improves sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety.
- Meditation or reflection:
Taking time to be present and quiet provides a sense of calm, peace and balance and benefits emotional well-being and your overall health. Meditation can reduce the immune response to stress and soothe inflammation.
- Deep breathing:
Spend a few minutes each day breathing slowly and deeply. It’s great to look at the sky or nature and focus just on your breathing for at least 10 breaths.
- Walking and Talking:
Being outside in the fresh air and giving yourself permission to discuss what’s on your mind with a friend or family member is often a simple and highly effective stress buster.
- Counselling and group support:
If stress seems unbearable and is interfering with how you cope with daily life, you may need to talk to a mental health professional or join a support group.
Step 8 – Natural skin treatments
Many chemical treatments can be effective at suppressing the symptoms of psoriasis, including steroid creams. However, when used long term, these thin the skin and accumulate in the body.
Botanica Culture’s Psoria Care oil is made from organic botanical oils to relieve the scaling, redness and itching from psoriasis without any harsh chemicals. It soothes inflammation, penetrating skin cells deeply to eliminate the bacteria and fungi that can cause infection and irritation in distressed skin. It contains organic Black Seed oil, Neem oil, Turmeric oil and Lavender oil, all renowned for their anti-inflammatory and moisturising properties.
Step 9 – Care inside and out
Treating the red, itchy psoriasis plaques is definitely a must. But since psoriasis is intimately connected to chronic inflammation, taking a supplement to ease inflammation can offer an extra level of support. Botanica Culture’s Activated Black Seed oil is the ideal supplement to reduce inflammation. Take one teaspoon a day internally to support your immune system and shield your body from inflammatory diseases.
Step 10 – Be a psoriasis detective
Psoriasis triggers are unique for everyone. Sometimes being a Psoriasis Warrior is more like being a sneaky detective, hunting for clues as to why your skin has had an outbreak.
And just like a detective needs to watch and wait for a vital lead, you need to meticulously track what’s going on when a flare up strikes. Some areas to monitor:
- – Medications you’ve started taking
- – Are you drinking more alcohol?
- – Weather changes
- – Allergies
- – What you’ve been eating
It’s also important to take note of your emotions each day, and pay attention to your stress levels. Then you can hunt for patterns and put all the clues together to close your case and reveal which culprits make your psoriasis symptoms flare up.
As those superheroes like Wolverine say, with great power comes great responsibility.
So to successfully follow the Psoriasis Warrior Strategy, your responsibility is to follow the best natural treatments for psoriasis. Remember to reduce inflammation, keep cool inside and out, and become an expert psoriasis-trigger detective. Best of luck on your mission!
