Whether you've developed psoriasis yourself or you know someone who has, one of the first questions to cross your mind is probably: "Is psoriasis contagious?". And the answer, thankfully, is no.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that many people suffer from all their lives. In fact, it's estimated that four to seven million Americans are diagnosed with psoriasis each year. Psoriasis is not contagious though, because it's believed to be a problem created from your body's own immune system.
When the human body is functioning normally, it produces new skin cells gradually. The skin cells on the surface of your skin need about thirty days to die off and shed themselves. During that time, new skin cells are being created deep below the surface of your skin, and these new cells gradually rise to the surface over the thirty day time period, arriving just in time to replace those that are ready to shed.
With psoriasis however, your body's immune system is reacting to some sort of trigger. Commonly known triggers include getting a severe illness or infection, such as strep throat, or going through an extremely stressful period in life. Your body starts pushing the new skin cells to the surface much more rapidly than normal. In fact, the new skin cells reach the surface in just a few days, instead of taking about a month as they normally would. With these new skin cells rising so rapidly, the existing surface skin cells have not had time to die off and shed themselves. So you end up getting a "pile up" which tends to manifest itself in the form of dry, white, flaky areas known as psoriasis.
And since psoriasis is caused by something in your own immune system, you cannot pass the condition on to others. Thus psoriasis itself is not contagious.
Now if you develop psoriasis due to one of the common triggers such as a severe illness or infection, that illness or infection can of course be passed on to others. But not everyone develops psoriasis when a contagious disease or illness is caught, so the psoriasis itself is not contagious, but the underlying factors which cause you to develop psoriasis could be.
Even though psoriasis is not contagious, you are probably looking for a way to cure the problem. Some people have severe cases of psoriasis, and this can be quite uncomfortable... at times even debilitating. Most doctors and scientists feel that psoriasis cannot be cured, but they do have medications and treatments which will help relieve some of the most common and problematic symptoms.
Herbal medicine specialists however, believe that you can greatly reduce the severity and frequency of psoriasis flare ups, and some believe you can cure the problem completely.
Common alternative remedies for treating psoriasis usually involve treating the internal problems within your body. You can reduce the inflammation and itching with external applications of herbs such as aloe vera, but to actually reduce or eliminate the psoriasis itself, herbalists feel you need to cleanse and detoxify your body. This process is achieved through various diet changes, getting additional vitamins and minerals into your system, and cleaning out the liver, colon, and digestive tract to remove built up toxins and waste.
Note: Statements in this article are not approved by the FDA, and should not be considered as professional medical advice.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that many people suffer from all their lives. In fact, it's estimated that four to seven million Americans are diagnosed with psoriasis each year. Psoriasis is not contagious though, because it's believed to be a problem created from your body's own immune system.
When the human body is functioning normally, it produces new skin cells gradually. The skin cells on the surface of your skin need about thirty days to die off and shed themselves. During that time, new skin cells are being created deep below the surface of your skin, and these new cells gradually rise to the surface over the thirty day time period, arriving just in time to replace those that are ready to shed.
With psoriasis however, your body's immune system is reacting to some sort of trigger. Commonly known triggers include getting a severe illness or infection, such as strep throat, or going through an extremely stressful period in life. Your body starts pushing the new skin cells to the surface much more rapidly than normal. In fact, the new skin cells reach the surface in just a few days, instead of taking about a month as they normally would. With these new skin cells rising so rapidly, the existing surface skin cells have not had time to die off and shed themselves. So you end up getting a "pile up" which tends to manifest itself in the form of dry, white, flaky areas known as psoriasis.
And since psoriasis is caused by something in your own immune system, you cannot pass the condition on to others. Thus psoriasis itself is not contagious.
Now if you develop psoriasis due to one of the common triggers such as a severe illness or infection, that illness or infection can of course be passed on to others. But not everyone develops psoriasis when a contagious disease or illness is caught, so the psoriasis itself is not contagious, but the underlying factors which cause you to develop psoriasis could be.
Even though psoriasis is not contagious, you are probably looking for a way to cure the problem. Some people have severe cases of psoriasis, and this can be quite uncomfortable... at times even debilitating. Most doctors and scientists feel that psoriasis cannot be cured, but they do have medications and treatments which will help relieve some of the most common and problematic symptoms.
Herbal medicine specialists however, believe that you can greatly reduce the severity and frequency of psoriasis flare ups, and some believe you can cure the problem completely.
Common alternative remedies for treating psoriasis usually involve treating the internal problems within your body. You can reduce the inflammation and itching with external applications of herbs such as aloe vera, but to actually reduce or eliminate the psoriasis itself, herbalists feel you need to cleanse and detoxify your body. This process is achieved through various diet changes, getting additional vitamins and minerals into your system, and cleaning out the liver, colon, and digestive tract to remove built up toxins and waste.
Note: Statements in this article are not approved by the FDA, and should not be considered as professional medical advice.
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