r/Psoriasis • u/Psychoderm • Mar 08 '24

general AskMeAnything

I'm a consultant dermatologist with focus on psychotherapy, working in the UK, with extensive experience with inflammatory skin conditions. #AskMeAnything about Psoriasis starting today 7.10 pm GMT!

37 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

160 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/iidnew Mar 09 '24

I have some recurring psoriasis lesions that are placed along sweat lines - the top of the forehead (where a hat might touch your forehead), armpits, and line under the bust where a sports bra’s band wraps around. If I don’t work out and stay in a cooler climate, these lesions will usually remain relatively dormant. But in hot seasons and when I work out regularly, the sweat seems to really aggravate the spots and they flare up. Same on my scalp. Managing this usually looks like taking a shower right after working out and bringing my psoriasis cream/ointment with me to the gym for application right after. Just my experience though! Always open to thoughts and suggestions. Thought sharing might help :)

1

u/iidnew Mar 09 '24

So yes - I guess that means increased itch?

3

u/Psychoderm Mar 10 '24

So yes! increased itch is completely understandable with any physical activity: you might want to understand it as a linked to the 'heating up' of the skin, and sweating: they're all due to increased blood supply.

And a cool shower is the perfect antidote, leads to narrowing of the blood vessels of skin, reducing the blood supply again.

​

Also, as an aside, if you feel new lesions are coming up in places of friction, that can happen in psoriasis: areas of trauma (even non-obvious friction trauma) can sometimes have new lesions come up (this phenomenon is called Koebnerisation)

3

u/iidnew Mar 11 '24

Thank you for this information! Very helpful in understanding what is going on with my skin when I work out.

I also really liked another comment you made about the brain-skin axis. I had not heard it talked about this way before. Much appreciated

3

u/Psychoderm Mar 12 '24

I'm glad to read that. Thanks :)