Psoriasis is a common chronic non-contagious skin disease of autoimmune origin. The cause of the disease is not definitively understood. It is assumed that psoriasis is caused by failures in the immune system, disorders of the nervous and endocrine systems, metabolism (especially fat and carbohydrate), foci of chronic infections (tonsillitis, maxillitis, cholecystitis). It is also known that the predisposition to psoriasis is hereditary. According to statistics, this disease affects one in three inhabitants of the Earth. Psoriasis can occur at any age and can occur in either a mild or severe form in which the joints are affected.
In the Middle Ages, psoriasis was confused with leprosy and like lepers, psoriasis patients were isolated and made to wear bells to warn of their appearance.
In some cases, psoriasis is caused by stress, though it is quite rare. Spots and plaques on the skin appear after severe fright, excitement, nervous exhaustion, overwork or mental trauma.
The disease is considered noncontagious, but there are rare cases of infection after contact.
When psoriasis affects not only the skin, but many organs and body systems - heart, joints, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract.
In the beginning of the disease, there is a red flaky rash on the knees, elbows, or head that is almost invisible. Sometimes the rash starts on the torso or scalp. These are individual small nodules of pink or red color, covered with silvery-white scales, which are easily detached. When the scales are separated, a reddish shiny surface with pinpoint drops of blood is visible. Gradually the rashes increase, merge with each other, forming different sizes of plaques, which over time are sharply thickened, and then very difficult to treat.
Sometimes the spots can cover the entire body. The skin becomes bright red, thickened, covered with layers of scales (psoriatic erythroderma). In this case, the temperature often rises, lymph nodes are enlarged, the general condition worsens. In some forms, the process involves the joints (so-called arthropathic psoriasis).
Sometimes the spots can cover the entire scalp, go down to the forehead and flake off severely. Plaques can also appear on the face, more often near the eyes, on the eyelids, eyebrows, in the nasolabial folds. Sometimes found on the oral mucosa.
Changed nail plates: they appear on them point indentations, pits, furrows, often plates are cloudy, thickened, their shape changes - nails resemble the claws of a bird. In all these manifestations, the patient is not in pain, he is not immobile and is even functional, unless systemic complications arise.
When psoriasis affects the joints, the fingers and toes become red, swollen, hot, painful, and the skin becomes taut and shiny. The pain increases with movement. Sometimes the hip or knee joints and the spine are affected. The cardiovascular system is disturbed: there are unpleasant sensations in the heart area, shortness of breath. Appetite decreases, there is bitterness in the mouth, heartburn, belching, constipation, nausea, there is intolerance to fatty foods, unstable stools. The liver and kidneys change.
There is no complete cure for psoriasis. Even if the spots almost disappear, the disease can go into a latent form. Different treatment options are aimed at clearing the skin. But plaques can reappear at any time.
With psoriasis from fatty foods and alcohol should be abandoned - they increase the load on the liver, which is vulnerable in this disease. You should limit the use of spices, table salt, carbohydrates. Milk, cottage cheese, vegetables, fruits, berries and juices are useful, as well as seafood: seaweed, squid, shrimp. You don't want to overindulge in easily digestible carbohydrates.
If you consume a lot of red meat and egg yolk, skin inflammation will increase and new rashes will appear. Limit your intake of these foods, eating them no more than once a week.
In doing so, there is less chance of introducing foods that cause a possible allergic reaction. By the way, food sensitivities can contribute to the development of psoriasis. With the help of special allergy tests, the products that cause it can be identified.
Chaga preparations are indicated for the treatment of individuals with unfavorably current psoriasis, simultaneously suffering from chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.
My granddaughter has been a beauty since she was born. Blushing, curly as a picture. Up to that point, family and friends were happy with her. But I guess it's a jinx.
After school, she entered the institute - she prepared for a long time, spent nights sitting over her textbooks, she is a serious person. But I didn't get one point, so I had to postpone my enrollment for a year. Whether from worry or something else, she got a rash on her arm. It was flaking and itching, we thought it was nervous and should go away soon. But it didn't. Instead of a rash, a spot appeared, small at first, then enlarged and reddened. Went to the doctor, they said granddaughter had allergies and sent her to the allergy center. The diagnosis was not confirmed there, they sent me to a dermatologist.
While going to the doctors, the rash also appeared on my face, near my eye, and also almost unnoticeable at first. And just like that, it grew into a solid blur. And what a nuisance - not only did I not get into the institute, but I got some kind of disease. Finally diagnosed with psoriasis. There are no words to convey how worried we were.
They prescribed us sandimmun-neoral, photochemotherapy, calcipotriol, hormonal ointments - elocom, sinaflan, psorcutan. I can't remember what else. It seemed to help at first, but soon it would start all over again.
She had been prescribed everything! Physiotherapy, acupuncture, laser treatment, vitamins and fish oil. But the disease didn't recede.
Wrote to an old friend (she lives in the village) about our trouble. She's an herbalist, like everyone in their line. And a friend recommended an ancient folk remedy for psoriasis - birch mushroom. In and out. At the same time she sent me chaga powder and detailed instructions on how to use it.
My granddaughter started to drink chaga preparations - 50 g an hour after meals. I gave her the infusion for three months. And in parallel, I made an ointment - exactly as described by my herbalist, God bless her.
The ointment is made like this. You need to prepare a glass of chicken fat, a couple tablespoons of birch tar, grated laundry soap - about two tablespoons. A teaspoonful of soda ash, three yolks and a couple tablespoons of bile. For all this - half a cup of chaga powder. A friend used to grind ground chaga in a coffee grinder.
First, the chicken fat is melted to a liquid state. Boil it after this for 10 minutes, strain it through gauze into an earthen bowl, cool to lukewarm and pour in finely ground birch mushroom. Stir properly. After that, add birch tar and grated soap and stir again. Then grind three raw yolks into the ointment. It remains to pour in the bile (it is sold in any pharmacy).
The ointment is ready, it remains to hold it for half an hour in a water bath with a temperature of 80 degrees, stirring continuously with a wooden spatula.
This is the ointment my granddaughter used to dab on the spots. At first I didn't want to hear about such treatment, but when nothing helped, I decided to do it. The ointment was rubbed in the evening, 3 hours before bedtime, everything was absorbed very quickly. And in the morning, I rinsed the sore spots with whey. And I only washed with tar soap.
For three months my granddaughter drank chaga preparations and smeared herself with this ointment. The spots got smaller and smaller until after three months they disappeared completely. But it had happened before, and then it was back again.
After three months, the herbalist said, the granddaughter took a break for two weeks. By then my friend had sent us a new batch of chaga.
In general, my granddaughter was treated for two years, taking a break every three months. There were a couple of exacerbations during treatment when the spots reappeared, but they subsided very quickly. After two years I stopped chaga treatment. And for several years now, I have forgotten about psoriasis completely.
И. Matveeva, settlement. Mountain Keys.
