Does Psoriasis Hurt? 3 Causes of Pain With Psoriasis

3 of 5 • Learn how psoriasis can cause pain through skin cracks, inflammation, and joint issues.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:05:13
Dr. Adel Haque
Psoriasis can certainly lead to a lot of problems down the line.

00:00:05:15 - 00:00:24:03
Justina Ray
Does psoriasis hurt, and what causes the pain?

Dr. Adel Haque
You know, I think as a psoriasis patient, you might have even experienced this pain, but I noticed that patients with psoriasis, especially if they have hands or feet involvement, they can get some cracks in their hands, and then the scalp sometimes breaks and cracks in the scalp area, so sometimes that can just be painful.

00:00:24:03 - 00:00:48:21
Dr. Adel Haque
Is that something that you have?

Justina Ray
I do have really bad scalp psoriasis. That’s actually one of the first places that I noticed it.

Dr. Adel Haque
Was it itchy at all?

Justina Ray
It was itchy and also inflamed. I noticed that sometimes at night I’d be scratching and not even realizing it, just painful with the inflammation.

Dr. Adel Haque
People scratch their psoriasis on their scalp a lot, and I think that can break some hairs down and cause a lot of inflammation as well.

00:00:48:24 - 00:01:07:01
Dr. Adel Haque
And it just goes to show that that inflammation is no joke. I mean, it really causes pain — yes, definitely. A lot of times, people will go through bouts of joint pain, bouts of inflammation, bouts of all sorts of things going on with their tendons. That definitely is a piece that comes from psoriasis. All of these things are a part of that whole spectrum of the disease.

00:01:07:03 - 00:01:14:10
Dr. Adel Haque
And we can totally treat this.

Learn more and connect at MyPsoriasisTeam.com.

Videos in this series

	How Does Psoriasis Cause Hair Loss?
	Psoriasis and Joint Pain: What It Means for Daily Movement
	Pain and Psoriasis: 3 Causes To Know
	Which Psoriasis Treatment Is Right for Me?
	Tried Multiple Psoriasis Treatments? Here’s What To Do Next

“Does psoriasis hurt, and what causes the pain?” Justina Ray, a mom of two and a teacher who’s been living with psoriasis since 2022, asked Dr. Adel Haque, a board-certified dermatologist.

Sometimes, in addition to causing dry, itchy skin, psoriasis can be painful. Below Dr. Haque explains three ways that psoriasis can lead to pain.

1. Cracked Skin

Psoriasis can cause dry skin that can crack. “I noticed that patients with psoriasis, especially if they have hand or feet involvement, can get some cracks in their hands, and then the scalp sometimes breaks and cracks,” Dr. Haque explained. “So sometimes that can just be painful.”

“It’s getting so bad on my knuckles that the skin cracked today, and it’s still bleeding,” a MyPsoriasisTeam member wrote. Another member added, “I also have cracked, bleeding, scaly skin on my hands.”

2. Inflamed Skin

Justina noticed a lot of pain from her scalp psoriasis. “I do have really bad scalp psoriasis. That’s actually one of the first places that I noticed it,” she told Dr. Haque.

“It was itchy and also inflamed. I noticed that sometimes at night I’d be scratching and not even realizing it … just painful with the inflammation,” she said.

The itchiness of psoriasis can sometimes lead to pain because of scratching, Dr. Haque said: “People scratch their psoriasis on their scalp a lot, and I think that can cause a lot of inflammation as well. It just goes to show that inflammation is no joke. It really causes pain.”

3. Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is a type of inflammatory arthritis that affects about a third of people with psoriasis, including Justina. “A lot of times people will go through bouts of joint pain, bouts of inflammation, bouts of all sorts of things going on with their tendons,” Dr. Haque explained.

Justina experienced “joint pain in all my joints and neck pain,” she said, noting that the condition also made it “hard to move and hard to stretch.” She added, “Sometimes I’ll get pains in my hips.”

Justina’s psoriatic arthritis has also affected her mobility: “I can’t move as fast as I did before or I can’t lay a certain way that I did before. So it’s definitely changed my life in those aspects.”

Finding Relief

If you’re experiencing pain from your psoriasis, it’s important to talk to your dermatologist. There are treatments available that help relieve dry, painful, cracked skin and other medications that help control inflammation that also contributes to psoriatic arthritis.

“We can totally treat this,” Dr. Haque said.

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