If you have psoriasis and allergies, maybe you’ve wondered if your allergy flares make your skin condition worse.

There’s no need to guess: Doctors and researchers haven’t found links between the two problems.

Although psoriasis and allergies both involve your immune system, the causes for them aren’t related.

 

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease

That means your body’s immune system wrongly attacks some of its own healthy cells.

An allergy happens when your immune system has a severe reaction to something that most people don’t have a problem with, like pollen, pet dander, or certain foods.

Some people confuse psoriasis for allergies before they visit the doctor, because both conditions can cause itchy, red skin.

So, get checked by a dermatologist if your skin itches or flakes.

 

The Stress Factor

If you have psoriasis, stress may be partly to blame when the disease first appears and when it flares. Stress can also make your allergies act up.

When you’re having an allergic reaction, your body is working hard. It’s trying to fight something. When your body is going through stressful events, it alters the immune system. We know that stress can cause psoriasis to flare, the internal stress of what your body is going through. Read more about how does stress cause psoriasis – here.

 

Food as a trigger

While some dietary elements are posited to trigger psoriasis, other foods have been suggested to improve disease symptoms. Many autoimmune conditions such as psoriasis can benefit from dietary changes. If you have psoriasis, you may find it beneficial to include plenty of anti-inflammatory foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and healthy oils. You may also want to avoid pro-inflammatory foods, such as meat, dairy, and processed foods.

We wrote about this topic last year in Weekly Psoriasis Focus #16.

 

 

Drugs May Have an Impact

Doctors have noticed that the drugs used to treat allergies can cause psoriasis to get better or worse, although it doesn’t happen often.

Sometimes doctors treat allergies with steroids like prednisone.

 

Also, people who take psoriasis drugs that turn down the immune system might find that they have fewer allergies, but this isn’t proven.