Beyond the Scales

Beyond the Scales https://aepc.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/iStock-1331581471.jpeg 2011 1491 AEPC Health AEPC Health //aepc.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AEPC-LOGO-v1.png August 16, 2025 August 19, 2025

Sam has heard it all.

“Why are you wearing a long-sleeve shirt in 90-degree heat?”
“How come you never go to the beach?”
“Is your skin supposed to look like that?”

Then there are the hurtful moments—overhearing a coworker say, “you know, the one with scales on their skin,” or a first date asking if psoriasis is contagious and promptly deciding there won’t be a second.

Kids blurt things out, too, like asking if Sam has chickenpox. No—Sam has psoriasis.

History’s Mistaken Identity
Psoriasis isn’t new—it’s been around since ancient Egypt and Greece. For centuries, it was confused with something far scarier: Hansen’s disease, or leprosy. In the Middle Ages, visible skin lesions could get someone shunned, isolated, or forced to wear or even made to wear special clothing marking them as “unclean.”

Even today, some people assume it’s poor hygiene. It isn’t. Others wonder if psoriasis can spread. It can’t.

More Than an Itch
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that makes skin cells grow at turbo speed, forming thick, scaly patches that itch, burn, and crack. There are five main types, with plaque psoriasis being the most common.

The stigma can cut as deep as the physical symptoms. Visible flare-ups draw stares, questions, and unsolicited advice. Many people withdraw socially, skip events, avoid dating, or cover up year-round to escape attention.

Even Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Updike, who lived with psoriasis, noted its impact: “What was my creativity, my relentless need to produce, but a parody of my skin’s overproduction? Was not my shamelessness on the page a distraction from my real shame?”

Piling On
Psoriasis doesn’t stop at the skin. It increases the risk of psoriatic arthritis (stiff, swollen, painful joints), cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and strokes, and mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

People with psoriasis may also face higher risks of Crohn’s disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, liver or kidney disease, certain cancers, and eye inflammation (uveitis).

Help for the Here and Now—If You Can Afford It
There’s no cure yet, but treatment has come a long way. Topical creams calm inflammation, light therapy slows flare-ups with controlled UV rays, and pills or biologic drugs target the immune system in moderate to severe cases.

Access isn’t equal. Biologics can cost thousands per month without insurance, and high copays or deductibles can force people to delay, ration, or skip treatment.

Lifestyle changes—reducing stress, eating well, and moisturizing—can help manage symptoms but can’t replace medical treatments prescribed by a healthcare professional.

More Than Skin Deep
Psoriasis shows on the skin, but it’s more than skin deep. It affects body, mind, and spirit.

It’s an autoimmune disease—not contagious—and never a reason to treat someone as less than whole.

This August, during Psoriasis Awareness Month know the facts, ditch the myths, and spread kindness—not stigma.

Happy reading,

Suzanne Daniels

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