Nail Psoriasis

Do you have Psoriasis in you nails? I do. My nails have been affected since I was 15. To be honest I can't even remember what my nails looked like when they were normal.

I spoke with my dermatologist about my nails a couple of months ago. He recommended that I rub my celestone ointment into the base of my nails where the cuticles are & just above it. He said that it should help them begin to look more normal. I've tried it but I can't honestly say that its helped or not.

My nails tend to improve over winter and then become all pitted again once the warmer weather starts. I always notice that over the summer months my nails look awful. That's when I tend to use nail polish it helps make them look smoother. There is one setback with that though. My nails tend to become discoloured once I take the nail polish off. It looks disgusting when the nails are tinged with yellow. So I try not to use too much nail polish at all these days.

If you want to read up on some possible treatments & info I found some on the Everyday Health website.

And my BIG tip for your nails. Keep them trimmed. You're less likely to catch them on things. They sting like mad when you catch them on stuff. It tends to make the nail lift up from the nail bed. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!

Nail Psoriasis

I've had psoriasis in my fingernails since I was 15 years old (just a few years ago I might add :P - although my boys will tell you otherwise). The dermatologist I saw in my 20's said that there wasn't anything that could be done to help with the nail P. So I learnt to live with it.

There were many a time when I used to 'hide' my nails under nail polish to make them appear normal at least from a distance but nothing would EVER get rid of the pitting or the lifting up from the nail bed. In fact I noticed after a while that if I didn't wear nail polish that my nails would sometimes grow 'smoother' and less pitted.

Over the past few years, since I moved to Victoria, I noticed that my nails only began looking worse over the summer months and that come autumn they started to look smooth again. A coincidence perhaps? I have no idea but so far this summer my routine has not changed. My nails look bad in my book. You can decide from the photo that my baby took for me. Have you ever tried taking a photo of your own hands? I found it difficult as the pics ended up really blurry.

I am finding it really awkward with the nails lifting from the nail bed at the moment. I knock them on all sorts of things when they are in this condition and it can be very painful. My only tip is to keep them trimmed so that it is less likely to happen.

I'm crossing my fingers that once autumn/winter comes along my nails will begin to be 'normal' again.

Psoriatic Arthritis

Oh Golly. I so do not want to get Psoriatic Arthritis (PA). I was reading up on it today and I have decided that this is one thing I do NOT want. Not that you really have a choice as to whether you get it or not. If you want to check out the site I was looking at for the information check >>>here<<< at Health Talk.

One thing I did take note of when I was reading was the increased likely hood of getting PA if you had certain symptoms such as changes in your fingernails such as pitting, ridges or your nail lifting from the nail bed. Lucky me I have those happening :P I have had problems with my eye for a little while with redness and soreness but I was thinking that was conjunctivitis or something (I really must see my GP about that I suppose) which is also another symptom.

I think I should resolve not to read anything else about PA ~ ignorance might be best when it comes to this. I certainly don't want to think I am turning into a hypochondriac or something! Sheesh. I remember my sister saying that about me when I was a pre-teen. I didn't like the idea then and I certainly don't like the idea of it now. I doubt my sister even remembers saying it to me either. Not that I see her anyway. Nor the rest of my family. I guess that's the bonus of living 800 kms (500 miles) away from them!

Anyway if you wish to learn more about PS check out the Health Talk site. They have a lot of information there on treatments, diagnosis and so on.