My daughter

Caroline: I apolgise for not grasping your point but what is the link between your daughter's jacket being zipped up or not, and her psoriasis? I sympathise so much with young children suffering with psoriasis or eczema, an adult can rationalise a little with what is happening and also self-treat to an extent to relive itching etc, but for young children their immediate experience can be almost totally overwhelmed by the discomfort and irritation. My psoriasis appeared overnight at age 21 (I am 60 now) so I was already out of the potential sphere of bullying/teasing schoolkids and I just ignored the adults who seemed to think that psoriasis was akin to leprosy. Times have changed a lot and there is a much greater awareness of psoriasis these days. In 1979 my GP diagnosed chicken-pox (even though I had had it as a kid) but referred me to a dermatologist when it did not go away on its own.

Hi Caroline I’m struggling to understand the relationship between the zipped jacket and psoriasis. Can you explain more?

Sorry for confusing you guys. The reason I am cautious of her zipping her jacket is because her psoriasis is affecting her body as well as arms so our doctor told us that we have to cover up warm when she's outside so that her psoriasis is covered up and is less likely to get worse so when she's at school she always has her school jumper on unless it's really hot in the classroom and outside she has a fleece on during summer and during rainy, windy, cold weather and in winter, she has a waterproof jacket on which the doctors advised she has zipped to protect her. Hope this clears up your confusion ;).

Thanks Caroline. I so feel for you and your daughter. I've had psoriasis and other skin conditions for nearly fifty years on and off and it's a frustrating (to say the least) condition to live with. Being hot makes my skin worse. It feels really irritated and in fact in New Zealand we are encouraged to get as much air and sun (not sunburn!) on our psoriasis as possible. I've never heard of medical advice to keep psoriasis covered. When you think of it there are millions of people with scalp and hand psoriasis which would be impossibe to always keep covered. I'd definitely let your daughter decide what's more comfortable for her. As these conditions can be lifelong if she's also comfortable with people seeing her psoriasis that in itself can be healthy. Diet definitely affects my psoriasis with gluten, red meat and potatoes being the most noticeable. But everyone is different. Best wishes.

Caroline: I am not a doctor, but your doctor's advice sounds strange to me and does not match anything I have ever been advised or that I have heard or read. But treating young children for cetain conditions does sometimes require a different approach than if an adult is being treated - both medically and practically. I have never heard advice to "keep warm when outside" with regards to psoriasis. Your Doctor might have a very good reason for saying it. Of course, unlike your doctor, neither I or anyone else commenting is a doctor or has seen your daughter's condition. I would suggest that at the next follow-up appointment with your doctor you discuss it with him again (perhaps mentioning that behaviourally it is proving difficult, and ask how important it is to her treatment?) With my GP I am lucky perhaps, I can also phone the surgery and say that I have a question about my treatment, and they will take a note, and it appears as an alert on my Doctor's computer screen. He will phone me back later that day. That saves both him and me wasting a full appointment, in my local practice most GPs have a few time slots for phone-calls and paperwork. So with a question likje this about your daughter, it would be possible for me to get advice directly from the GP without needing full appointment, in the case where I did not have a follow-up consultation planned. I know that some people with eczema need to wear dressings and it can be a nightmare trying to stop young children scratching, eczema or psoriasis. I have always found that getting sunlight on to my skin helps my psoriais greatly. BUT sunburn is to be avoided as it can actually make the psoriasis much worse, and some topical treatents for psoriasis increase the skin-sensitivity to sunlight and so can increase the risk of burning. Perhaps your doctor has a concern around that? Perhaps he has a concern that your daughter is damaging her skin in regular play, so wants her to keep it covered? In June I spent 2 weeks working on an oil-rig in the Mediterranean off Israel, It was extremely hot and for safety reasons we have to keep our skin and heads covered with protective clothing. My psoriasis reduced over that 2 weeks - no idea if it were related to the heat, or something else (I doubt if it was the heat though). I wish you and your daughter all the best. PS: I use a product called "Doublebase Dayleve Gel" as a moisturiser on my body - not only is it an excellent emolliant, it also contains an ingredient that leaves a slight barrier on the skin to help protect the affected areas (ordinary Doublebase Gel does not have the extra ingredient). Your Doctor can prescribe it or it is available over the counter or online. It feels strange at first, but I like it, and it does not feel oily or affect clothes.