Psoriasis Symptoms - How to Recognize the Disease

Psoriasis can be an unsightly disease with many plaques of reddened skin with silvery flakes of overgrown skin occurring most commonly on the back of the elbows and on the front of the knees or lower back. In severe cases, it can affect the whole body, including aspects of the face and scalp. Some people get the lesions on the palms of their hands and on the soles of their feet. There are a lot of symptoms with psoriasis as well that make life somewhat uncomfortable for those who suffer from it.

Itching is a common symptom of psoriasis. Because it tends to be on drier aspects of the body (unless you have inverse psoriasis), you can get significant itching. The problem with the itching is that if you scratch it, you can irritate the skin further, making the psoriasis worse. This is why doctors recommend that you gently massage the itchy skin to get rid of the itching. Scratching to the point of excoriating the skin can not only worsen the psoriasis, it can cause infections of the skin. The infection itself can make the psoriasis much worse.

The next most common symptom is pain in the affected areas. You can have irritated and painful plaques that hurt whenever you touch them. If you have psoriasis in the genital area or in the folds of the skin, they can get infected with yeast, which can be both itchy and painful. The skin becomes moist and macerated and it hurts whenever you rub those skin areas together.

You can have nail symptoms with psoriasis and nearly half of all psoriasis sufferers will have nail psoriasis as well. This can lead to pain in the fingertips or itching around the nails. The nails have linear ridges going from side to side and pitting of the nails. You can also get lifting of the nail plate off of the nail base due to a buildup of skin underneath the nail plate. This can hurt and you can build up skin and dirt debris underneath the nail. Infections due to dirt and skin cells under the nails can occur, which need antibiotics or lancing of abscesses. Some people with psoriasis of the nails choose to have their nails removed because of the problems with the nails. The nails are either removed with an ointment that dissolves the nails or the nails can be removed surgically.

A small percentage of psoriasis sufferers will have psoriatic arthritis. In such cases, the joints affected are red, swollen and painful. Things like using the hands or walking can become very painful. The most commonly affected joints are the distal finger joints, just adjacent to the nails. This makes it very difficult to grasp things, to write or to use the hands in any capacity. If the toe joints of the feet are affected, the person has problems wearing shoes and walking becomes difficult. Other joints can be involved, including the spine, which can yield significant back pain.

Some people have palmoplantar psoriasis, which involves the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. There are usually blisters and pustules involved in this form of psoriasis which are very painful and which make it difficult to use these parts of the body.