Do's
- Use moisturizer: Blot your skin after bathing, then immediately apply a heavy unmedicated moisturizer while your skin is still moist. For very dry skin, oils may be preferable - they have more staying power than creams or lotions do and are more effective at preventing water from evaporating from your skin.<
- Use Sunscreen: Be sure to protect healthy skin with a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. Apply sunscreen generously, and reapply every two hours or more often if you're swimming or perspiring.
- Eat a healthy diet: There's no evidence that certain foods will either improve or aggravate Psoriasis. However, it's important to eat a healthy diet, particularly when you have a chronic disease. A healthy diet includes eating a variety fruits and vegetables of all colors and whole grains. If you eat meat, focus on lean cuts and fish.
- Keep a food diary: To see what effect different foods have on your symptoms and avoid those foods that aggravate them.
- Cover the affected areas overnight: To help improve redness and scaling, apply an ointment-based moisturizer to your skin and wrap with plastic wrap overnight. In the morning, remove the covering and wash away the scales with a bath or a shower.
- Expose your skin to small amounts of sunlight: A controlled amount of sunlight can significantly improve lesions, but too much sun can trigger or worsen outbreaks and increase the risk of skin cancer. Keep a record of when and how long you're in the sun to help avoid overexposure.
Don'ts
- Do not skip your daily bath: Bathing daily helps remove scales and calm inflamed skin. Add bath oil, colloidal oatmeal, Epsom salts or Dead Sea salts to the water and soak for at least 15 minutes
- Avoid psoriasis triggers, if possible: Find out what triggers, if any, worsen your psoriasis and take steps to prevent or avoid them. Infections, injuries to your skin, stress, smoking and intense sun exposure can all worsen psoriasis.
- Avoid drinking alcohol: Alcohol consumption may decrease the effectiveness of some psoriasis treatments.
- Avoid hot water and harsh soaps: They can worsen symptoms. Use lukewarm water and mild soaps that have added oils and fats.
