The skin, which has always been the strongest line of defense to protect us, is particularly sensitive to seasonal changes, especially in the case of psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, systemic disease caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and immune factors. Because of the relatively low immunity of psoriasis patients, every autumn and winter, the so-called “psoriasis” will make a comeback, tormenting people physically and mentally and making them suffer.
Although psoriasis loves to play a part in going and coming, but each time before coming (relapse) is traceable oh, the following signals remember to give twelve points of attention.
Signal one: fever and cold long red spots
Patients with psoriasis often experience recurrent fever, cold, sore throat and other symptoms of upper respiratory tract discomfort when their condition relapses, where fever can change with the seasons or temperature changes. When it is cold, the body temperature may tend to fall because the body’s skin blood vessels become dilated and body heat is easily dissipated. In hot weather, the body temperature may gradually increase due to the blockage of sweat ducts, which leads to no sweat, and the body heat is not easily dissipated.
Localized or generalized erythema
At the same time, patients may be accompanied by the symptoms of small red dots appearing locally or all over the body. The red dots may feel itchy, but the itching is not very obvious, so patients may think it is a common cold and be ignored.
Signal 2: Skin lesions fluctuate, red dots expand, covered with white skin
As the disease progresses, psoriasis gradually starts to “run wild” after relapse, and the most obvious change is the fluctuation of the skin lesions.
Enlarged red spot with white skin
The patient’s new red dots begin to expand in size from the initial size of a corn to the size of a green bean, while a thin layer of white skin begins to cover them. The lesions may fade and recur with the presence or absence of external stimuli, typically in the fall and winter.
Once such symptoms repeatedly “get better” or appear, it mostly suggests that psoriasis has relapsed or worsened!
Signal 3: Increased skin lesions and the reappearance of characteristic skin lesions
White scales, shiny films and punctate bleeding are the typical clinical symptoms of common psoriasis.
In the later stages of relapse, the lesions begin to fuse with each other as the skin’s ability to heal itself decreases, forming brownish-red plaques of greater size. As the number of plaques becomes more and more, the border becomes clearer and the surface can be covered with multiple layers of thin white skin with scales, which can be gently scraped to reveal a light red, shiny translucent film, which is the intraepidermal spiny cell layer, called the film phenomenon. Scraping again can reach the upper end of the dermal papilla layer, where capillaries scraping, small bleeding dots can appear, known as punctate bleeding phenomenon.
The lesions increase and characteristic skin lesions appear Figure
Patients need to keep an eye on such areas as they may have an immune memory of their original lesions, which often recurs preferentially after stopping the drug.
Once the above three types of signs appear, do not take any chances, and should seek medical treatment early to avoid the condition from getting worse.
Also, when using medication, you need to strictly follow medical advice. Because of the long-lasting and frequent recurrence of psoriasis, excessive treatment or drug abuse should not be avoided. It is recommended that emollients be used to assist in the treatment of mild symptoms, salicylic acid preparations and coal tar with ultraviolet light can be used for those with thick scales, and topical clobetasol propionate ointment can be used for stubborn chronic skin lesions.
For patients with chronic symptoms, especially in summer, who have significantly reduced or disappeared, it is recommended to apply phototherapy such as ultraviolet light irradiation under the guidance of a doctor or, if conditions permit, to live temporarily in an area with sufficient daylight.
In general, psoriasis patients need to maintain patience throughout the disease treatment process, active treatment during the acute phase of the disease, healthy rest during the stable phase of the disease, less spicy and irritating food, moisture and infection prevention, to prevent the disease from taking advantage of the opportunity.
References
[1] Zhao Jian. Chinese clinical dermatology [M]. Nanjing: Jiangsu Science and Technology Press, 2009:1011-1012.
[2]Fang Hongyuan, Xing Weibin, et al. Handbook of practical skin venereal diseases [M]. Beijing:People’s Health Publishing House,2016:593-598.