What is psoriasis? Part 1

Psoriasis is a skin condition which can occur anywhere on your body.  It generally appears as red scaly patches.  Sometimes these appear in just a small area but in more severe cases they can cover much or even all of your body.

In normal circumstances your skin is replaced every month or so, but with psoriasis the whole process is speeded up and your skin starts replacing itself every few days.  This causes the skin to become inflamed, resulting in the red scaly plaques as they are known, or skin lesions.

Now it's important to stress that psoriasis isn't contagious.  You can't catch it from another person.  Also if you have psoriasis in one area of your body, you can't then transfer it to another part of your body.

Because it can be very visible, psoriasis can impact on your life in a number of ways, and you may need to learn to cope not only with the condition itself, but also with other people's reactions to it.

There is currently no cure for psoriasis but a lot has been learnt about the condition in recent years, and there are a number of ways of treating it.  I should also mention that psoriasis can occur at any age and that it affects both men and women.  If you think you may have got psoriasis or maybe you're just concerned about the appearance of your skin, you should seek advice from your doctor.