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    • Services and providers for Psoriasis in the U.S.

  • National Institutes of Health

Psoriasis is a skin disease that causes itchy or sore patches of thick, red skin with silvery scales. You usually get them on your elbows, knees, scalp, back, face, palms and feet, but they can show up on other parts of your body. A problem with your immune system causes psoriasis. In a process called cell turnover, skin cells that grow deep in your skin rise to the surface. Normally, this takes a month. In psoriasis, it happens in just days because your cells rise too fast.

Psoriasis can last a long time, even a lifetime. Symptoms come and go. Things that make them worse include

  • Infections
  • Stress
  • Dry skin
  • Certain medicines

Psoriasis usually occurs in adults. It sometimes runs in families. Treatments include creams, medications and light therapy.

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Start Here
  • Psoriasis(American Academy of Family Physicians)
    Also available in Spanish
  • PsoriasisInteractive Tutorial(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player
    Also available in Spanish
  • What Is Psoriasis?Easy-to-ReadFrom the National Institutes of Health(National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

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U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
National Institutes of Health | Department of Health & Human Services 		Date last updated: 17 September 2008
Topic last reviewed: 29 May 2008