My Psoriasis: More of a Psychological Thing?!

PSORIASIS is among the most common skin issues, understood very little and looked at as something that cannot be diagnosed. Yes, this is true to some extent. This condition causes scaly, dry patches that tend to spread rather quickly, and scraping the skin tends to worsen the situation. Psoriasis is essentially a kind of rash that comes on unannounced, without any type of allergen or external entity causing it. However, in my case, I have observed that whenever am too stressed or obsessive thinking takes over, I get these patches. The spots are light maroon, spread near my nose, on either side, above the lips, and sometimes on the chin too. I often call these 'stress rashes'. Starting from the common grounds shared by the nostrils and upper lips they appear in a shape resembling the map of the former Soviet Union, taking days to heal naturally. Do any of you have such a health condition? I am sharing what I have been able to learn via observations across almost an entire decade.

Checklist - do you have the type of psoriasis breakout I am talking about?

- you get this insatiable, uncontrollable urge to scratch in the most demonic manner
- soon after the scalp is scratched, there is reddish, flaky skin on either side of the nose
- sometimes, this patch will become big and make it to the upper lip area
- pinkish patches can last for days, are very dry, and make the skin less pleasant to shave
- it takes days for the patches to heal, and if you scrape it, maybe even weeks

- taking off-the-counter anti-allergics does not help a lot

- these rashes don't develop or go away like a rash brought about by an allergen

- sometimes, there is a crust that you feel like peeling away but that does more damage

 Want to read about using Tea Tree Oil to help skin heal naturally?

- you need to moisturize them in the most sacred manner, rubbing in the Vaseline
- yes, Vaseline is the solution to use, not oils or creams of souffle...none of them work
- this form of psoriasis is somewhat similar to urticaria breakouts
- they can be controlled by some form of anti-allergic medications, i.e. just the spread of it, the patch that has developed is rather immune to it
- the effect of homeopathic drugs is immense if used just when the breakout surfaces
- breakouts can be stimulated by stress or by using an alternative/untested cosmetic product
- icing is not a big help and you might want to stay away from any significant source of heat

- shaving at this time is not a good idea, in fact, it is not recommended at all

- coconut oil can alleviate the symptoms but you got to rub it in twice or thrice a day but I think this can bring about a bit of acne too, and this is why I said, use vaseline instead

- keep away any perfumed or heavily fragranced lotion or cream as this can cause more inflammation

You Might want to read about obsessive skin picking habits

 

Recommended reads sourced from the web:

1. Talking about Psoriasis treatment - here, you might come across actual patient stories
2. A nice way to stay updated about the latest in the world of psoriasis treatment - click here - covers the basics and then digs deeper into managing psoriasis symptoms
3. Rare source about psoriasis plaques that some people cannot stop scratching - click here - become a member at the forum and you will come across some really genuine discussions

Workout Disasters - Reality over Mind over Pain - am I losing to chimps?

I read this during a recent bout of some late-night reading. This is about chimps being stronger than humans, pound for pound and that too even if the human involved in the comparison is well built, not the obese types we usually come across. This means that if I met a docile looking chimpanzee, not the huge King Kong sorts gorilla, I would still be weaker than the big monkey creature!! The study was actually about finding more about the similarities between chimps and us.

Just some quick eye-shut time to reconnect with yourself

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You must have read a lot about the concept of power napping and how the shortest periods of relaxation can cleanse the mind of overwhelming thoughts. I am using the same thing in the most micro fashion – using some eye-shut time to ensure you have a more uncluttered mind. I do this at the desk, in the car and even when taking a bath. Just shut your eyes and banish all thoughts. Try to concentrate on a facial muscle, i.e. on your face. I tend to focus on the nose bridge, clutching the skin around it. This is not about many minutes but a handful of seconds. You can do this repeatedly, like a breath hold & go exercise that is found in many meditation prep programs. For me, concentrating with my eyes closed is almost impossible. I tend to hop to what happens next scenarios a bit too often.

Cancer: It Scares Me and Honestly, You Should be Worried Too!

Cancer Seems Like a Contemporary Lifestyle Curse

I just cannot get it out of my head. A few days ago it was World Cancer Day February 4th and the media was abuzz with celebrities who had fought back the dreaded condition. I must say that survivors like Rina Dhaka need to speak-up more about how cancer can be managed with emotional and medical support. It seems that proper care combined with contemporary standards in medical care can ensure that you don't lose your life or end-up in a where every day seems like inching closer towards the final stage where the props are in bad taste, the story of your life has gone awry and the support cast members are waiting for God’s gates to accept you. Cancer, as a health problem that finds new ways to invade the lives of people around us, has engaged a lot of critical attention lately. It also happens to be one of my deep-seated fears.

We know about Coffee & Conversations to Stay Awake…what else?

Making Your Coffee Work Extra Hard for You

Saw this trending editorial piece with some coffee hacks running in the title case and my first impressions were this is another coffee or caffeine related write-up that is going to preach about how to manage your daily intake. I had done a small piece on using coffee as a workplace companion but the Dailyburn.com article talks about various coffee combinations that can make it more effective. The one about adding protein powder makes a lot of sense. Caffeine when combined with protein is a beautiful energy-upping and calorie-busting solutions along with the protein ensuring your muscles are well fed. Coffee napping is not something you would find mentioned anywhere else.

Wellness Trending: can you realign your cells for better performance?

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A few minutes on this open diary about my life and you will realize that words like “anxiety” seem to be found with amazing regularity. This issue has been at the epicenter of my health battles, each time morphing into something new and this is when I started Googling about “holistic wellness”. The search has been slow and I came across some very unconventional therapies that are trending these days, one such being Cellular Healing – something that tries to treat you at the most basic level, i.e. cellular balance. No matter how healthy or upset your physical and mental health seems, overall wellness cannot be attained unless all cells are functioning in perfect harmony – this is the concept that fuels cellular healing. A couple of products that promise to attain this level of wellness includes aroma-diffusers that tend to cleanse the aura and bio-frequency sprays that boost better cellular arrangement. Does it make sense?

"Don't Dad Me" - Martin Crane is No More! RIP Friend

This was when Star World was just getting serious about serving the Indian audience content that had some degree of intellectualness - Kelsey Grammer addressed this with Frasier. The character was someone who would speak with a real accent, and never let you feel that he was merely reciting the lines. The props were very real, the studio production aura wasn’t there and the personas who fueled Frasier’s interactions had one very special person – his dad, played by actor John Mahoney. Now into his retirement years, with a hyperactive dog who always needed attention, Mahoney’s on-screen avatar was rather matured, living with his son and trying to soak-up some good moments in his grey years.

Gravity Blanket For Folks Who Are Not Sleepy Enough

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Sleeping issues and insomnia are common and so are sleep remedies. There is an increasing rush towards off-the-counter medications that promise to put you to sleep…to the extent that you wake-up the next day! However, the Gravity Blanket is comprehensively a non-medicated sleeping aid. It has been something special, unlike insomnia solutions that come with plugged-in devices. However, the promise is a bit of an overkill. For starters, it does not seem like that compression or the hug-like treatment can help everyone sleep. It seems rather expensive too. The closest I can get to is the massaging action that helps folks realize. From anxiety to stress and physical exertion, any therapy that involves rubbing and pressing the body can be a bit therapeutic. Is the gravity blanket destined to fail? NO. There are so many desperate souls out there searching for a good nap that they won’t be satisfied unless they have tried it. This is not supposedly addictive and hence, will be tried by folks coming-off anti-anxiety and sleep-inducing prescription drugs. Not much science here unless the makers can explain…

Still Stuck on Shahid Being Too Lean in Padmavati? Relax, HE owned it!

Not sure if this can be an unbiased discussion. The reason lies in everyone thinking about body-types rather differently, especially when they are spread on a canvas as huge as Padmavati. Recently, a couple of guys shared their opinion about the movie, saying that while everyone in Padmavati looked rather aptly fitted into the role, Shahid had missed a trick by not bulking-up. I say NO to this observation. There is no historical documentation that the Rajput dynasty kings and princes were about six-packs abs and massive shoulders. Padmavati remains a movie, a celluloid version of a story that takes cues from history but weaves a plot based on creative direction, not sticking to every aspect of the heritage that forms its backgrounds. The characters are rightfully glorified.

Graduating from Shaking Hands to Elbow-Shake!

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Some people are calling it a life hack idea but it seems outright outrageous. There is talk about how the hyper-hyper-hypochondriacs, those with a life-term record of catching infections from the most innocuous causes might be shaking elbows rather than rubbing cheeks or shaking hands. Yes, the world could elbow you towards new social skills that insist that the viral-overwhelmed, contamination-heavy hands are kept at a distance and the more clothed, the lesser infected elbows are now transformed into a means of socially greeting each other. This Emily Price discussion might make people think that some germophobic could conjure something so extreme but the fact remains that we are living in an era where hand sanitizers are as important as sanitary pads,