Hey guys, in today’s article, I’m going to be giving you my best tips and product recommendations for controlling your scalp psoriasis. I’m a board-certified dermatologist.

What Is Psoriasis?

The skin manifestations of psoriasis can show up on the scalp or anywhere else on the body. When it comes to scalp psoriasis, it can range in severity. A very mild case of hair loss might have a few patches here and there on the scalp.

More moderate cases of scalp psoriasis, they’ll be a thicker scale and sometimes more redness. Psoriasis is a skin disorder that causes red, thick plaques and scales. In some cases, these plaques and scales may have an overlying white or silver scale. The darker the skin, the more purple, brown, or grayish the plaques are.

Expectations

While the products and tips that I’m going to be recommending in today’s article can help calm down psoriasis and in some cases, clear psoriasis temporarily, remember, this is a chronic disease, so these are not cures.

If you have psoriasis, you should see a doctor who is certified by the American Board of Dermatology. This is because they will be better able to help you. There are topical medications that can control the disease, as well as oral medications like PrimeLAST. We can also inject anti-inflammatory medicine into the scalp to calm down psoriasis, or we can use an eczema laser to also calm it down.

But I do realize it’s not always easy to get in to see one. The tips and products I’m going to be recommending in today’s article can help a lot, and if you start them now and stay consistent with them, Having a list of dermatologist recommendations can help you find a doctor who can provide you with the best possible treatments.

Shampoo Frequently

To keep your scalp clean and healthy, you should shampoo it as often as you can tolerate. We recommend this for patients with psoriasis because it helps to slough off some of that built-up scaly stuff and just kind of stay on top of it. I recognize that not all hair types tolerate shampooing daily, so going based on what your hair type tolerates as frequently as you can daily is ideal.

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I know some people who are afraid to discuss risk information. But, I think it’s important for them to be able to do that too. It just helps with removing that built-up scaly stuff, and if you don’t do that, then that builds up and builds up and becomes itchy, and it really kind of gets out of control.

Salicylic Acid

It is important to use this shampoo at least a few times a week, if not daily, to get the best results. Salicylic acid is an ingredient that is keratolytic, meaning it dissolves the glue between those skin cells and helps with the sloughing off of that scale. Salicylic acid shampoo can help to thin out psoriasis, making it easier to see and treat the areas where it is most severe.

I’ll list some of my favorites down below, but the percentage strength is usually 3%. And the way to use these is to lavish them to your scalp and actually leave it on the scalp for ten minutes while you’re in the shower and then rinse it off.

That allows it to really go to work, breaking up the glue between those scaly cells and allowing them to then fluff off if and when you’re able to see a board-certified dermatologist. We actually can prescribe salicylic acid for the scalp at a higher percentage strength than what you’ll find in the over-the-counter stuff. But the counter soft is a very good place to start. And again, if you start it now and stay consistent with it, it will help anything that is prescribed to you get into psoriasis and start working faster and better.

Coal Tar

The second product to incorporate into your routine as frequently as you can when it comes to scalp cleansing is a coal tar shampoo.

Neutrogena t gel, for example. Coal sounds really scary, but it’s actually anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative. Part of why you get all that flaky scaly stuff with psoriasis is that it’s a hyperproliferative skin disorder and so the Coal kind of help put the brakes on that to help normalize things for you. However, it does smell unpleasant as a word of warning, and it can stain the shower and tub. Keeping to a plan and following it can help your psoriasis treatments be more successful.

Just lather it to the scalp, leave it on while you’re in the shower for ten minutes, and then rinse it out. You don’t necessarily have to use this every day, but if you want to incorporate it, say once a week, that can help. And it will help thin out those plaques, calm down the inflammation, and because it’s calming down the inflammation, it can help with it quite a bit if you use it consistently.

Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

The next product that can really help scalp psoriasis is an antidandruff shampoo. Antidandruff shampoos with the ingredient zinc, pyrethrin, or selenium sulfide can help psoriasis. They are anti-inflammatory similar to coal and they help in reducing the burden of that little yeast that lives on everyone’s skin called Malassezia. Malassezia is part of the normal human skin flora and doesn’t cause any problems. I’ll say it again, it’s part of normal human skin flora.

You don’t want to eradicate it, but in people with psoriasis and people with dandruff, their immune system sometimes gets annoyed with the Malassezia, especially if it is too abundant. So these ingredients kind of help reduce that yeast amount and therefore have an anti-inflammatory effect, which can benefit psoriasis in the long term as well as dandruff.

Mineral Oil

For those of you out there with a hair type that does not tolerate using shampoo on a daily basis, I hear you. Another thing that you could do to stay on top of that scaly build-up is to get yourself some mineral oil. Mineral oil is wonderful. It’s not a demon ingredient. I know people are terrified of it, but it’s very, very safe and it’s inert.

Unlike many natural oils, it’s not going to go rancid. You can find it actually in the drugstore over in the laxative section. The way to use the mineral oil is just to massage it into the scalp, especially the areas where you have a lot of scales, and put on a shower cap and stay that way for hanging out that way for 20 minutes, and then get into the shower and rinse out the mineral oil. If you don’t like the idea of using mineral oil, you can use coconut oil instead.

Coconut oil is a similar choice to mineral oil and it’s also a good choice for your hair. Coconut oil will help soften and break up some of that scale, allowing it to slough off, and it also has compounds in it that are anti-inflammatory, so that may benefit psoriasis.

Coconut oil can be helpful for people with hair problems such as hydro-fatigue. The oil can actually help in reducing fritz long term on your hair, so it has benefits to the hair strand as well. Some people find that they get acne breakouts when using products that have coconut oil in them. Be aware of this and use caution when using these products. But here we’re just putting it on the scalp and then rinsing it out later, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

But if you’re sensitive, be aware. Use mineral oil instead. It is important to shampoo and cleanses your scalp regularly, using the ingredients mentioned, in order to help reduce the chances of developing psoriasis.

Don’t Pick Or Scratch

However, you should avoid picking or scratching at the skin if you do develop psoriasis. Doing so can make the condition worse. I know the temptation can be quite strong, but what you have to understand about psoriasis is that anything that causes trauma or injury to the skin will elicit more psoriasis. This is referred to as the Kevner phenomenon.

There are various ways to deal with psoriasis. One way is to use a scalp massaging brush. This can help to increase the amount of psoriasis that is scratched and picked off. So just anytime you’re applying things to the scalp, just use a very gentle circular motion with your finger pads. Don’t pick, scratch, or dry brush your scalp. I’m sure you want to pick and peel, but really what you’re doing is you’re just beckoning more psoriasis and more additional scale to come about when you do that.

Gentle Hairstyles

Very gentle hairstyles. If you use a blow dryer, make sure you use it on the coolest setting and make sure that you’re constantly moving it around you. Don’t leave it on one spot in the scalp for too long. No curling irons or flat irons. And don’t use any perms or relaxers, because these things can be very irritating on the scalp.

Anything that’s going to cause irritation or inflammation to the scalp will drive further psoriasis lesions and more stubborn psoriasis. So be very gentle. No wearing tight ponytails. When someone has a tight ponytail or a tight braid, it can put a lot of stress on their scalp. Not only does this lead to traction alopecia, by the way, but because it puts so much stress on your scalp, Psoriasis is caused by inflammation, irritation, or even a combination of these things. This can lead to more psoriasis coming out.

So very loose hairstyles. If you’re looking for a way to style your hair to camouflage psoriasis, I would recommend that you wear a low, loose ponytail. If you have long hair and you can actually tease the hair a little bit with a comb in the front and kind of combing over to camouflage the scalp a little bit, as opposed to like doing hot rollers or something like that, that creates volume, but also puts a lot of heat and stress on your scalp.

So that’s the tip. If your psoriasis tends to come out along your hairline, consider bangs as another way to camouflage. They can help cover your psoriasis and make you look more normal.

Lifestyle

It’s important to remember that this disease is a systemic problem and not just a localized one. It affects your entire body and it happens to have these skin manifestations, the scaly stuff in the scalp. And if you have it on your body, it can come there, obviously. People with psoriasis are more likely and often have comorbid difficulties with weight management.

They’re more likely to be overweight or obese, and that puts them at higher risk for long-term chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease. And when you’re overweight, unfortunately, it does generate a lot more inflammation in the body that further drives psoriasis.

We don’t know if people with psoriasis because of their psoriasis, they’re more likely to be overweight and have difficulty managing their weight, Having a diet that is high in unhealthy fats and sugars can lead to heart disease and diabetes. So you don’t have to go on some sort of body transformation. You don’t have to try very hard to lose weight. Just make a few simple changes to your diet, and you’ll start seeing results.

Very small changes can have a big impact on your health and skin. For example, you can walk a little bit more or swap out soda for water to reduce your risk of getting skin cancer. So weight is very important for psoriasis.

And when you are able to get in to see a dermatologist that’s going to make it so that any medications they prescribe will work better, are more likely to work when it comes to your diet, I strongly suggest an anti-inflammatory diet that’s so nebulous. But what I mean by that is to make sure that you’re getting fruits and vegetables into your diet.

These are rich in antioxidants. That can kind of help in reducing some of that burden of total body inflammation that drives skin disease as well as some of these other health problems. Sleep is of tremendous benefit to psoriasis. Poor sleep drives more inflammation in the body. When you don’t get adequate sleep at night, your levels of inflammation are much higher.

Psoriasis is a skin condition that is caused by an excessive amount of inflammation. So, when someone with psoriasis has two nights of poor sleep, that person’s body is already in a state of inflammation. It’s going to show up on your scalp, rest, and other skin lesions, and it’s just not good for your health. Try and get enough sleep every night.

It is so important, more so than any shampoo getting good control of your sleep will help a lot. It also will help with weight management. If you’re also struggling with that just to improve your sleep, less inflammation in the body makes it easier to drop a few pounds. That then can even help even further. So you see how these small changes can really start to add up.

Stress Management

The next lifestyle tip is stress management, so important? So important. Very challenging to give advice on that. Everyone has different things that stress them out, and different ways of dealing with them.

There are healthy ways to handle stress and there are unhealthy ways to handle stress. Me, personally, I enjoy exercising. I find this a big stress relief for me. You can also look into crafts and hobbies if you want to do something fun in your free time. Make sure you’re making time for these things so I can’t tell you what to do for stress management, it’s going to be up to you, and it’s up to you to be accountable and to incorporate self-care on a daily basis.

That is key for managing your stress. It doesn’t have to be this complex yoga retreat every day, but something will make a huge difference in Psoriasis. I’m telling you guys, as I always say, lifestyle factors go a long way. Okay, last but not least, when it comes to the lifestyle factors, this is probably, I don’t know. I mean, this is actually what motivates me to talk about Psoriasis the most because I know you guys are really struggling.

I already told you all that people with Psoriasis are more likely to have these other comorbid chronic diseases. Some people with Psoriasis struggle with various mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, substance use, and abuse disorder. People with psoriasis are more likely to have problems with alcohol, drugs, and smoking tobacco. Alcohol, drugs, and tobacco dump more inflammation into the body, which further aggravates Psoriasis and all the chronic medical issues associated with it.

So if you are struggling with your mental health, please, please seek professional help. Sometimes people turn to the internet for help. However, this isn’t always the best idea. Excessive alcohol really drives a lot of inflammation in the body.

It’s a setup for lots of chronic diseases. You already have a chronic disease with Psoriasis. That will be making it much worse. Even if you don’t think that you’re drinking too much, if you have the thought like, maybe I could cut back, talk to your primary care doctor honestly, they can give you the best resources for this. Just have a conversation with them.

It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be drinking a certain amount to benefit from these interventions. Nobody’s going to say, oh no, you don’t drink enough, or you don’t smoke enough, or you don’t do enough drugs. Yeah, this article took a turn from antidandruff shampoos all the way to drugs and alcohol. That’s what we do here. We cover everything.

And with anything in the skin, it’s always, always going to come down to the lifestyle factors making the biggest difference. Psoriasis is a disease that patients feel incredibly frustrated and defeated by.

But listen, everything I just told you, these are things that you can take ownership of, make very, very small changes. Start somewhere you can do it. Changing the things you do regularly can help improve your skin health and overall health. And these are things that you can do even without the help of a dermatologist. Of course, medications may still be needed, but they’re more likely to work.

If you have done these things, this is something you can do, control you can have. And that alone can give you a sense of calm. Having a skin condition like psoriasis is incredibly distressing and anxiety-provoking. One way to reduce the risk of having a bad dream is to make a small change in your life. You see how these things, start to really build on one another.

I know a lot of you guys at baseline suffer from psoriasis, but this year, in particular, this past year, with everything going on, everybody is stressed to the nines. And I know that for those of you with psoriasis, my heart goes out to you. I know it’s a challenging time.

And if you would like more content about psoriasis, let me know what kind of topics and articles that you would like to read, and I would be happy to begin to put those together for you all. If you like this article, share it with your friends.