Everything You Need to Know About Hair Removal If You Have Psoriasis

From allure.com

By Kara McGrath

We asked dermatologists for tips on how to safely get rid of unwanted fuzz, whether you prefer shaving, waxing, lasers, or tweezing

While psoriasis can come with its fair share of everyday annoyances, hair removal should be a relative breeze as long as you don’t have an active flare-up. “The truth is that most people with psoriasis are not tremendously bothered by gentle hair removal as long as their psoriasis is controlled,” says Shira Y. Wieder, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care in New York City.

Anyone who hasn’t found an effective method to ward off their psoriasis flares should take serious precautions before doing any type of hair removal, as it carries a real risk of triggering new plaques even in areas that weren’t affected before. However, if your psoriasis is well managed by prescription treatments, you’ll likely be able to shave, laser, wax, and pluck almost exactly like anyone else. “The risk of triggering new plaques drops but doesn’t fully disappear,” says Divya Shokeen, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of OSVI Dermatology and Surgical Institute in California. Here are a few precautions to keep in mind to avoid irritating your skin and triggering a flare-up.

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How Having Psoriasis Can Affect Hair Removal

“It’s one word: Koebnerization,” Dr. Shokeen says of what can make hair removal trickier for people with any inflammatory condition like psoriasis, especially during an active flare. For people with psoriasis, the Koebner effect occurs when trauma stimulates the immune system to develop plaques, Dr. Wieder says. In other words, if your psoriasis is active and you suffer any sort of minor skin injury (like a nick from a razor or a burn from too-hot wax), you could see more psoriasis, especially if it’s close to a psoriatic plaque, Dr. Shokeen says.

She emphasizes that this does not mean your psoriasis is “spreading” because psoriasis is not an infectious disease (meaning it’s not contagious). Instead, these minor injuries can start a new inflammatory reaction anywhere on the body, especially if your psoriasis is not controlled by medication.

In addition to the risk of Koebnerization, people with psoriasis tend to have drier skin, which compromises the skin barrier, Dr. Shokeen says. This means the skin can become irritated fairly easily. As a result, it “tends to develop more redness, stinging, or lingering marks from things that a non-psoriatic patient would tolerate,” she explains.

With all of that in mind, the first step in safe hair removal should be to manage your psoriasis with prescription treatments, many of which can completely eliminate symptoms. This is especially true if you’re taking an injectable medication like the biologics Humira or Skyrizi, says Tracy Evans, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and the medical director of Pacific Skin and Cosmetic Dermatology in California. However, since psoriasis can only be managed and not cured, the risk of Koebnerization from hair removal remains for anyone with the condition, although it’s much lower in those cases.

On the flip side, if you’re still in the process of finding a psoriasis treatment that works for you, Dr. Shokeen says all hair removal methods carry a high risk. “Anything that’s causing repeated, mechanical trauma could potentially trigger your psoriasis.”

The Best Hair Removal Methods for Psoriasis-Prone Skin

If your psoriasis is well managed and the hair removal method is performed correctly, the dermatologists interviewed here agree you’ll likely be fine to use any method as long as you do so carefully. However, they note you should ideally speak with your own doctor before trying anything new. It will ultimately be a matter of trial and error to find which one works best for you, but these are a few safer options to consider.

Shaving

All three dermatologists interviewed for this piece agree that, aside from the risk of accidental cuts that could cause skin trauma, shaving is one of the safest hair removal methods for people with psoriasis. With shaving, “you’re [removing hair] above the follicle, not pulling it out,” Dr. Evans explains.

Dr. Wieder agrees and notes that it’s especially important for people with psoriasis to use a sharp razor and shave in the direction of hair growth rather than against the grain. Both will help ward off the irritation that can trigger Koebnerization. And if you’re trying to navigate around a psoriasis plaque, proceed with caution. “Avoid shaving off the scales because it’ll bleed underneath,” Dr. Wieder says.

Laser hair removal

Laser hair removal might sound like it carries a high risk of causing trauma, but the dermatologists interviewed agree it’s actually one of the safer options for psoriasis patients, as long as it is administered correctly. (Laser burns have the potential to cause, say it with us, Koebnerization.) “Even though you would think [a laser] would be traumatic to the hair follicle, it does seem to be safe,” Dr. Wieder says, pointing to studies on lasers that have shown their potential for treating psoriasis. Dr. Evans echoes this, noting that “heat and light” don’t seem to be an issue for people with psoriasis.

“I do laser hair removal on psoriasis patients all the time,” Dr. Shokeen says. She notes her preference for long-pulsed Nd:YAG lasers (1,064 nm), though she says diode lasers (about 800 to 810 nm) can also work if the settings are dialled down. Either way, it can be a tricky balance to get the levels just right, and the settings will need to be adjusted for each patient.

“If the energy of the device is too low, you’ll actually get hair regrowth,” she says. “It’s complicated to treat a psoriatic patient [with lasers], to say the least.” That’s why she always recommends that people who have psoriasis get laser hair removal in “a physician-supervised, medical-grade setting rather than a standard laser chain. There are more med spas than McDonald’s,” she says, noting her scepticism that all the people employed in those many locations would be fully trained to treat people with psoriasis.

Hair Removal Methods to Approach With Caution

As mentioned above, if your psoriasis is well controlled, you will likely be okay no matter how you remove unwanted hair as long as it’s done carefully. However, these methods carry some extra risks worth considering.

Depilatories

Hair removal creams (depilatories) may be a good option for someone with psoriasis because, like shaving, they don’t cause much trauma to the hair follicles. However, Dr. Wieder notes that these products can be irritating to many people, with or without psoriasis, so she always recommends a patch test beforehand on the areas where you plan to apply the depilatory. If you want to use it on your face, for example, Dr. Wieder recommends trying “some spots under the chin to see if you can tolerate it.”

Waxing

Although people with psoriasis can certainly get waxed, it’s the method that arguably comes with the most risk. “Waxing could pull on the skin and create microabrasions or tears,” says Dr. Evans. She says psoriasis is more likely to develop on areas that have been injured, even if the damage is minor. Dr. Evans also cautions that if the skin is damaged by waxing, new flare-ups could occur even in areas where you didn’t have plaques before.

For this reason, Shailer Carruth, a Vermont-based oesthetician who specializes in Brazilian waxing, says she waxes with her eyes as well as her hands. “The first thing I do if I’m going to wax someone who has psoriasis is check for any broken skin,” she says.

If you’re going the DIY route, Carruth recommends using a hard wax, which adheres only to the hair, not the surrounding skin. A sticky strip wax, on the other hand, is going to exfoliate the top layer of skin, which could further aggravate a psoriatic flare-up.

Tweezing

“Plucking is very traumatic to the hair follicles,” Dr. Wieder says, so you’ll want to tweeze with caution if it is your preferred method. While Dr. Evans notes that it’s relatively uncommon to get psoriasis on the face, it’s not impossible, so you should think twice about plucking if you’re prone to getting plaques there.

What to Do If Hair Removal Causes a Psoriasis Flare-Up

Although hair removal is generally safe for people with controlled psoriasis, if you get any micro-injuries during the process, there is a small risk that it could trigger a flare-up. If that happens, Dr. Evans says you can use your topical prescription medication to treat the area. If the flare persists, reach out to your dermatologist.

Meet the experts:

• Shailer Carruth is a licensed esthetician in Brattleboro, Vermont.
• Tracy Evans, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and the medical director of Pacific Skin and Cosmetic Dermatology in California.
• Divya Shokeen, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and founder of OSVI Dermatology and Surgical Institute in California.
• Shira Y. Wieder, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care in New York City.

https://www.allure.com/story/hair-removal-with-psoriasis

For Psoriasis, How You Cook Food May Matter as Much as What You Eat

From verywellhealth.com

Key Takeaways

• Cooking with low temperatures and high moisture, like boiling or stewing, may help reduce inflammation and lower psoriasis flares.
• Dry heat cooking methods, such as grilling or frying, can increase advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which worsen inflammation and oxidative stress.
• Marinating meat in acidic liquids, like lemon or tomato juice, can help reduce the formation of AGEs.

If you live with psoriasis, you likely have the list of trigger foods that can worsen your symptoms practically memorized — alcohol, refined sugar, ultra-processed foods, and so on. But what if how you prepare your food was just as important as what you eat?

Research shows that cooking with dry and high temperatures can increase the formation of compounds called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which boost inflammation in your body.

While evidence is still emerging, experts say it’s worth considering switching your food preparation process if you live with psoriasis. Using low temperatures and high moisture when cooking may protect your gut, decrease skin inflammation, and lower the risk of psoriasis flares.

                                           How you cook your food might influence psoriasis flare-ups.  Ugur Karakoc / Getty Images

Why Do Some Cooking Methods Increase Inflammation?

The body naturally makes AGEs in small amounts, which are known as endogenous AGEs. But you also get exogenous, or “dietary,” AGEs from food. These dietary AGEs can add to the total amount of AGEs, contributing to inflammation and other harmful health effects.

“AGEs are produced when a sugar molecule combines with a protein or fat molecule in the body,” said Rajani Katta, MD, a clinical professor of dermatology at UTHealth Houston and author. This process is known as the Maillard reaction, which gives your food its golden-brown colour and flavourful aroma.

However, the Maillard reaction doesn’t occur to the same extent with every cooking method. Research shows that dry, high-heat methods—such as air frying, broiling, grilling, and roasting—create the ideal conditions for AGEs to form.

That’s because dry heat evaporates moisture from food, allowing its temperature to exceed the boiling point of water. The higher temperatures speed up the chemical reactions between sugars and proteins, leading to more AGE formation.

“The cooking method makes much more of a difference when you are cooking meats, and dry heat methods such as grilling, roasting, and frying can increase AGE levels by 10 to 100 times,” Katta said. “Foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are low in AGEs, so even when they are cooked at high temperatures or with dry heat, such as roasting, they contain relatively few AGEs.”

How AGEs Worsen Skin Inflammation

After you eat foods that were broiled, fried, or grilled, the dietary AGEs can interact with your gut-skin axis, a pathway that communicates between your digestive tract and your skin.

Chen CY, Zhang JQ, Li L, et al. Advanced glycation end products in the skin: molecular mechanisms, methods of measurement, and inhibitory pathways. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022;9:837222. doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.837222

For people with psoriasis, dietary AGEs may contribute to more frequent or severe flare-ups by increasing inflammation and oxidative stress, two primary drivers of cellular damage.

The process doesn’t happen immediately after a meal. Instead, AGEs can disrupt the balance of gut bacteria and weaken the lining of the digestive tract. This allows inflammatory compounds to enter the bloodstream, where AGEs bind to receptors called RAGE (receptors for advanced glycation end-products). That interaction activates immune pathways that promote inflammation.

Over time, AGEs can also accumulate in the skin, where they damage collagen, the protein that helps keep skin firm and hydrated. “AGEs can accelerate skin aging by making our collagen more brittle and harder to repair,” Katta said.

In healthy skin, the immune system can usually resolve this inflammation and repair damaged tissue. But psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that places a lot of stress on immune function. The additional inflammation linked to AGEs may stimulate an already overactive immune system, causing skin cells to multiply too quickly and leading to the thick, itchy plaques characteristic of psoriasis.

Psoriasis-Friendly Ways to Prepare Food

If you have psoriasis, you don’t necessarily need to overhaul your diet or stop eating grilled foods. Instead, experts recommend making small changes that can help reduce your exposure to dietary AGEs, especially if you notice your symptoms worsen after eating foods cooked with dry, high heat.

Jaime Uribarri, MD, an AGEs researcher and professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, explained that meat tends to contain the highest levels of AGEs, but that doesn’t mean you need to avoid it.

“When you choose to eat lean meat, be sure it hasn’t been cooked with a high-temperature method, such as broiling or frying,” Uribarri said. “Meats containing more moisture tend to be lower in AGEs, so a good way to prepare them is with a moist heat cooking method such as boiling, stewing, or poaching.”

Uribarri also recommends marinating meat in acids like lemon or tomato juice before cooking. “Low pH decreases the formation of AGEs, while high pH has the opposite effect,” he said.

There are also other easy tips to reduce AGEs:

• Cook meat at lower temperatures or reduce grilling time
• Choose proteins that cook quickly, such as fish, seafood, or chicken breast
• Swap beef burgers for veggie burgers, which naturally contain fewer AGEs
• Wrap meat in aluminium foil patches while grilling to help retain moisture

https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-cook-if-you-have-psoriasis-12014172

 

Folks With This Skin Condition May Have Unknown Heart Damage

From health.yahoo.com

By Alexandra Engler

Research Connects Psoriasis With Weaker Heart Muscles & Blood Flow

What happens on the skin rarely stops just there. In the past decade or so, we've come to understand just how connected the skin and internal systems really are. The gut-skin axis is probably the most famous, with loads of research linking the two. The brain and skin connection is of newer scientific interest, with compelling studies showing these two are in constant bidirectional communication. There are also new studies connecting the skin with joints, metabolic function, and even the heart.

Researchers found that people with psoriasis—including those whose skin disease was well-managed—showed signs of a weaker-pumping heart at nearly three times the rate of people without the condition. The findings held even after accounting for other things known to strain the heart, like high blood pressure, diabetes, and higher body weight. This implies that psoriasis itself may carry a heart risk of its own.

As someone who has spent years covering the ways our skin reflects what's happening inside us, I found this one worth slowing down for. Here's what the researchers found, and what it means if psoriasis is part of your life.

                                                              Folks With This Skin Condition May Have Unknown Heart Damage

About the study

Past research has made a connection between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease, but the impact of the skin condition on heart structure was less clear.

• To better understand this, researchers wanted to see how heart structure and function compared between two groups: one group with psoriasis and the other without any inflammatory skin disease.

• Published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology , the study compared 2,020 adults total: 1,010 with psoriasis and 1,010 without any inflammatory skin disease, matched by age and sex.

• Everyone underwent a clinical evaluation and an ultrasound of the heart to look at how well the heart muscle was working and how it was built.

• They also tracked whether any differences tracked with how severe someone's psoriasis was.

What the researchers found

Even with well-managed skin disease, people with psoriasis were far more likely to show signs of a weaker heart muscle (myocardial dysfunction) that wasn't pumping as efficiently as it should.

It appeared at a rate of 16.7% versus 6.0% in the group without psoriasis. That's close to three times the rate.

A few other findings stood out:

• The link persisted after adjusting for other risk factors: The association between psoriasis and a weaker-pumping heart held up even after researchers accounted for cardiometabolic risk factors and existing cardiovascular disease—suggesting psoriasis is contributing something on its own.

• Severity didn't seem to matter: The rate of heart muscle trouble was similar whether someone's psoriasis was mild or severe. Having a milder case didn't appear to be protective.

• Body weight and diabetes played a role too: Higher body mass index and diabetes were each independently tied to heart muscle trouble in the psoriasis group—both already known to raise heart risk.

What this actually means

The detail I keep coming back to: this wasn't a group of people with severe, out-of-control psoriasis. Their skin disease was well-managed. And they still showed these heart signs at nearly triple the rate of everyone else.

Psoriasis is usually treated as a skin issue—you work with a dermatologist, you get the flares and plaques under control, and you move on. Of course, that's genuinely the right approach and a great place to start. But this research reinforces that psoriasis is a whole-body inflammatory disease. And it opens up the idea that a diagnosis with psoriasis might mean a check-in about your cardiovascular health with your primary care physician.

The authors are measured about it, noting that their work extends earlier research connecting psoriasis to heart risk. But that we don't yet know the exact mechanisms, or what specifically can lower this risk in people with psoriasis. But the robust population based evidence and clinical significance of the study means it certainly warrants further investigation.

In short: This is emerging science—compelling, but early.

What to do with this information

If you have psoriasis, this isn't cause for alarm. It's a reason to loop your doctor in.

A few things worth considering:

• Bring up heart screening: The authors point to the value of cardiovascular assessment for everyone with psoriasis, no matter how mild the skin looks. If it's been a while since your heart got a check-in, it's a reasonable thing to raise.

• Focus on what you can influence: Higher body weight and diabetes were both independently linked to heart muscle trouble here. Working with your care team on these—through food, movement, and any needed medical support—is a practical place to put your energy.

• Keep caring for your skin: Managing psoriasis well still matters, both for how you feel day to day and for keeping overall inflammation in check.

• Build a team: Psoriasis is complex, and so is heart health. A dermatologist and a primary care doctor or cardiologist working together gives you the fullest picture.

• Consider omega-3 fatty acid supplementation: While not a standalone treatment for either psoriasis or heart conditions, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has been shown to be supportive of both conditions.

The takeaway

Our skin has always been a window into what's happening deeper inside. This research is further proof that the connection to internal health doesn't just stop at the gut-skin axis. It impacts the body systemically, from the brain and joints to, yes, the heart.

https://health.yahoo.com/your-body/dermatology/psoriasis/articles/folks-skin-condition-may-unknown-190500655.html