Have you heard of this disease? Apparently even Kim Kardashian has it. Yes, let’s begin this post with the most famous person I know who has psoriasis. Because the other person who has it is me. Hehe… sorry for sounding so dramatic. I’m fine. At least, apart from a super itchy, often painful skin wound on my ankle, I’m fine.
So… Psoriasis. This is an auto-immune disease that occurs among nearly 3% of India’s population; more men get it than women; and it usually occurs in the third or fourth decade of one’s life.
Though it is an auto-immune disease, it is mostly brought on by stress. It manifests through the skin, where skin cells around joint areas (ankles, feet, elbows, and hands are most common, but it can also happen on the scalp), start producing excess skin cells leading to itchy, raw, pink, even bleeding sores in those areas. If left unchecked, it can worsen to a degree that may affect the joints themselves and be very difficult to deal with.
There is no known cure for psoriasis, however, studies have shown that more often than not, severe food allergies exacerbate it. Once these allergies are identified and the items cut off from the diet, one can control the manifestation of this disease, though it will never disappear.
Homeopathy has also been proven to help many in their ability to arrest its growth. Steroids are often recommended by dermatologists, but I would never recommend a life spent on steroids if it can be avoided.
Ok, so that’s the introduction. Now, I come to the real point of this post. I first noticed my psoriasis patch four years ago, but it was only this year, when it worsened significantly, that I was able to have it properly diagnosed as psoriasis. My dermatologist – Dr. Anju Mangla, who is the resident dermatologist at AIIMS Hospital, Delhi – recommended that I get a food allergy test. I discovered an allergy to a shockingly large number of things like wheat, some pulses, many kinds of vegetables and most fruits. Since then, I have been following a nutritionist’s plan cutting most of these things out. I’m also supplementing my treatment with homeopathy, and one month into the treatment, I do see a difference in the appearance of my psoriasis patch, if not its itchiness.
The point of this post, however, was to share the in-depth Instagram Live session I conducted on this subject right after I took my food allergy test. The video was seen by many, who came up to me and spoke about their own cases of psoriasis. I felt so happy that I was able to begin a conversation simply by sharing my own experience. So, in the interest of this reaching as many people as possible, I’m sharing the Live Session video here too.
If you feel this video might help someone in a similar situation to mine, feel free to share it with them. Also, do share your own experience in the comments below – you never who it will help.
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