It will not have escaped people that the climate is changing. Recent reports of extreme weather, both hot and cold and with the fires raging across Europe, will not only have a planetary impact, but human health consequences too.
For people affected by skin conditions such as psoriasis, those health consequences come with mixed emotions. Psoriatic skin is often improved with exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, but equally can feel worse when exposed to extreme cold.
So how can the sun help manage skin disease?
Artificial ultraviolet light both A and B are used in controlled settings as part of the psoriasis treatment pathway and some other conditions. It would be easy to think that with more sun exposure that it would be the perfect answer to managing psoriasis, which to a certain extent may be true, but it’s not without some serious issues to consider. The rise of skin cancer is becoming a global issue, and those with psoriasis are not immune, and need to take as much care to avoid over exposure to the sun as everyone else.
It also needs to be remembered that psoriasis is a very visible condition and it is not always easy for people to shed their clothes and get some benefit, due to the psychological impact, prejudice, ignorance and stigma that still surrounds the long history of living with psoriasis.
To read more, see our Psoriasis and the Sun information, which is also available as a free copy from our shop.