Recurrence is one of the problems that psoriasis patients often have to face. Not only do patients suffer physically and psychologically from untreated or recurring conditions, but they also tend to lose confidence in treatment and take a negative attitude towards treatment or even give up treatment. In fact, as long as patients can understand the common factors that trigger the recurrence of psoriasis and pay attention to them in daily life, the chances of recurrence can be greatly reduced. In this article, we analyze the nine factors that trigger psoriasis recurrence and a principle for facing psoriasis recurrence, based on the experience of doctors at home and abroad.
Nine factors that induce psoriasis relapse
1, mental neurological factors
The skin is a very emotional organ and is one of the important expression organs of the internal mental activities of the human body. Long-term clinical observation found that the occurrence and development of psoriasis are closely related to the patient’s personality, emotions, tension, worries, anxieties and other psycho-psychological factors. Mental factors are important factors for the occurrence, aggravation and recurrence of psoriasis, and mental factors mainly include
Undesirable emotions, such as tension, anxiety, panic, anger, depression, worries, grief, etc;
Stressful life events, such as family disputes, death of relatives, job changes, examinations, etc;
Overexertion, sleep disorders, etc.
2.Physical factors
The cold temperature is not good for psoriasis. Most patients with psoriasis are relieved in summer, while their condition is easy to be repeated and aggravated in autumn, winter and spring, which may be related to the cold and dry outside temperature and shortened sunshine time in winter. Darkness and humidity can aggravate.
3.Lifestyle
Smoking is a risk factor for the development of the disease
Excessive alcohol consumption can easily trigger
Lack of physical exercise can reduce the body’s resistance
Frequent late nights can lead to recurrence
4.Dietary factors
It is necessary to observe one’s tolerance to food.
People with psoriasis need balanced and comprehensive nutrition, while those with certain allergies need to pay attention to the stimulating factors of food to avoid triggering.
Meals that are beneficial to the remission of the disease
For example, fresh fruits and vegetables provide rich vitamins and dietary fiber, various cereals and coarse grains provide multiple vitamins; meat, eggs and milk provide essential amino acids, all of which are essential for a healthy diet. Lack of nutrition will lead to a decline in physical fitness and aggravation of the disease.
5.Trauma
Trauma mainly refers to skin damage, body trauma and mosquito bites, etc., which are common triggering causes of psoriasis.
6.Infection factors
Infection factor is one of the risk factors for triggering and aggravation, including infection of bacteria, germs and fungi. Although infection can induce and aggravate psoriasis, infection does not directly lead to psoriasis lesions, that is to say, psoriasis lesions are not caused by microbial infection, and psoriasis is not an infectious disease.
7.Drug factors
Some drugs are also one of the triggering factors of psoriasis, and it is often seen in the clinic that psoriasis patients take relevant drugs for a long time due to the combination of other diseases, which induces psoriasis or makes the condition persistent and intractable. Certain antipyretic and analgesic drugs and certain cardiovascular drugs may aggravate psoriasis, and attention needs to be paid to the doctor for medication consultation.
8.Allergic factors
It is found in the clinic that a considerable number of psoriasis patients are allergic and may suffer from urticaria, eczema, dermatitis and other allergic skin diseases at the same time.
9.Endocrine metabolic factors
Sex hormones, epidemiological surveys on the prevalence of psoriasis at home and abroad show that the age and peak of female onset is earlier than that of male, presumably related to the earlier sexual maturity of women than men.
Glucose metabolism, many scholars at home and abroad have found that psoriasis patients have strong insulin resistance in their bodies, and some studies have shown that the value of PASI score and the level of insulin resistance factor in the serum of psoriasis patients are positively correlated.
Obesity, exercise and improving dietary habits to reduce body weight may be more effective in relieving the condition of obese patients.
A principle to face psoriasis recurrence: slow disease and slow treatment
A variety of factors that trigger psoriasis recurrence have been analyzed earlier, but no matter what factors cause recurrence, patients must realize that psoriasis is a chronic skin disease, and “slow disease and slow treatment” is the scientific attitude to face it.
The “slow treatment” can be understood from two aspects.
The first is to be slow, that is, to adjust the mentality, not to be impatient.
For psoriasis and other chronic skin diseases, no matter what therapy is used, patients cannot expect to see a complete cure in three or two visits, or a visit to the clinic can be once and for all. Clinically commonly used drug therapy and ultraviolet light therapy, in a more ideal state also need about two months to achieve good therapeutic effect, for patients with more serious conditions or known to be more prone to relapse, the course of treatment may be longer; relapse, often also need to use a similar course of treatment. Patients have a “slow” psychological preparation, but easy to relax, optimistic response, which is the most favorable prerequisite for any treatment methods.
The second is to cure, that is, believe in science, adhere to the treatment.
Although not immediately, if you give up or change to another method when each method is not yet effective, the treatment will definitely fail. In short: persistence is victory. Of course, patients can not adhere to treatment in addition to the psychological eagerness to achieve, but also because of the actual difficulties faced by patients, such as long-term treatment repeatedly running around more tired, busy work and study can not find time for regular treatment. In terms of medication, patients who are hospitalized with medication and discharged from the hospital are still in need of follow-up maintenance treatment with certain drugs. In terms of ultraviolet light therapy, for some patients with milder disease, shorter disease duration or less affected areas, the frequency of hospital light can be gradually reduced, and small light therapy equipment can be used at home for self-treatment under the guidance of doctors. The advantages of self-medication and self-phototherapy at home are flexible and free time, free from travel, comfortable treatment environment, easy to protect the patient’s privacy, the patient’s economic burden and other characteristics, so it is easier for patients to adhere to treatment and achieve good results, but also conducive to the maintenance and consolidation of the treatment effect; in case of relapse, patients can also use the same method to control the disease as soon as possible. Of course, for patients with more serious disease or generalized disease, it is still recommended to go to the hospital to receive standardized treatment.