The Ultimate Psoriasis Holiday Care Plan

The Holidays are Just Around the Corner 

As a skin condition that affects more people than you’ve probably thought, psoriasis comes in different levels of severity. Itchy scales are the most common symptom, often irritating psoriasis warriors and making them self-conscious. Particularly during the holiday season when family gatherings and other celebrations expose you to practices and routines that can worsen your psoriasis symptoms. That’s why we’ve prepared a handy psoriasis holiday care plan you can follow throughout the season. Although we can’t promise symptoms will disappear completely, it is possible to control your symptoms and enjoy your time as much as possible during this beautiful time of the year. Remember that our goal is getting psoriasis out of your mind so you can focus on the rest of what’s going on.

Don’t Take Hot Showers

We know hot showers are great when the weather gets chilly, but remember that hot water can dry out your skin, making it more likely to crack and bleed. This is why some people with psoriasis find that hot showers or baths make their psoriasis painful, itchy, or even more visible than usual. Turn down the temperature before bathing or showering each morning. This way, you’ll see a significant exacerbating factor for your symptoms. Moisture must be managed appropriately since your skin is susceptible and requires extra care. While bathing, using different skin care products like soaps and oils that are psoriasis-approved is highly recommended. If you’re not part of our Dermabon community, we recommend you try out our soap and integrate it into your shower routine. It is easy to use and helps you control your symptoms naturally. 

Protect Your Skin From The Sun

Depending on where you live, the holiday season is primarily cold, and typically, you cover your skin. However, remember that you should always protect your skin from the sun, as it can worsen psoriasis. Use sunscreen with a high SPF (at least 30) and wear protective clothing, hats, and sunglasses when outside. If you go out in the sun, make sure to reapply your sunscreen every two hours or after swimming or sweating heavily (Especially when practicing outdoor activities)—and don’t forget to put it on those hard-to-reach places like your scalp!

Do Your Best To Manage Stress

We all get a little bit stress during the holidays, so let’s try to be even more conscious about how we cope with triggers during the holiday season! 

Stress is a known trigger for psoriasis, although many underrate it. It also worsens the skin condition and can be caused by many things, including work, family issues, and finances. If you’re under a lot of stress during this season, it can help to talk about it with a friend or family member who can offer perspective on your situation. You may also want to consider finding an exercise that helps relieve stress—for example, walking in nature or lifting weights at the gym. Another way to manage stress is by adopting healthy habits like eating well-balanced meals (including fresh vegetables). Finally, we recommend you consider vegan alternatives during this time of the year and avoid alcohol consumption as much as possible.

Diet is a whole other beast you need to pay attention to, but you can get 90% of the returns by avoiding alcohol, sugar, dairy, and gluten. 

 

Get A Good Night’s Sleep Every Night

Your sleep goal should be to get enough sleep every night so that you wake up feeling refreshed instead of groggy from lack of sleep the night before. You’re probably already familiar with the effects of sleep deprivation, but if not, here’s a quick refresher: lack of sleep leads to anxiety, depression, weight gain, and fatigue. A single night of poor sleep can also make psoriasis worse. So make sure you get at least seven to eight hours each night. If you have trouble sleeping due to psoriasis pain or itchiness (which can happen when your skin flares), try having your partner rub moisturizer on your dry patches before bedtime. 

 

Exercise Regularly

Not exactly what you do during the holiday season, but exercising can help control psoriasis symptoms and reduce stress, which will help you feel better emotionally and physically. Exercise is good for your heart and lungs, but it’s also beneficial to the skin. In addition to helping with general fitness and weight control, regular exercise can reduce stress and improve sleep quality. This can help combat psoriasis flare-ups. Training should take place at least three times a week for 30 minutes per session. Moderate exercise that increases blood flow to the skin (such as walking) is best.

 

The goal is to not let psoriasis ruin your life, it’s to overcome it. 

 

Breath

Other stress-reducing techniques include pranayama breathing exercises, where one focuses on breathing slowly while counting breaths until they reach ten before exhaling again slowly over time without losing focus. These are great ways for people suffering from depression/anxiety symptoms because they require total concentration without distraction from outside sources such as noise pollution.

 

Live Your Best Life

But most of all, remember the goal is to live freely again. Build these into your life so you can go about your day without thinking about your symptoms. As an underlying goal, this will make you feel way better and create a positive feedback loop with your stress. 

 

We hope you now have a better understanding of all the ways psoriasis can be managed. I know the road to getting better can be challenging and long. However, I think it’s important to remember that you are not alone in this journey. Psoriasis affects millions of people worldwide, and there are many resources for anyone who wants help or information about their condition. We wish you the best and enjoy this beautiful time of the year with your loved ones. Following an 80/20 rule and focusing on stress, moisture, sun, diet, sleep, and exercise will get you most of the way there. After that, it’s about maintaining consistency. Good luck and happy holidays!