Psoriasis – Often Confused with Athlete’s Foot

Psoriasis – Often Confused with Athlete’s Foot

Psoriasis is often mistaken for Athlete’s Foot by Nail Technicians without specific training.  The client with psoriasis can experience itching and peeling of their skin.  Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the skin and nails.   The origin of the word psoriasis is Greek and means “to have an itch.”

A normal person’s skin sheds every 21 days.  A person with psoriasis skin sheds every 7-10 days.  With the skin shedding more often it doesn’t fully develop and layers on top of itself, often having an appearance of pinholes and blisters.  Most of the time, these are not friction blisters rather the skin not being fully developed before shedding.

Here at Sole Purpose Foot Care we only offer waterless pedicures and this is especially helpful to clients who have psoriasis.  Soaking a client who has dry peeling skin needs hydration rather than the dehydration with a water soak.  We use an e- file to refine calluses on clients who have psoriasis rather than a large foot paddle to ensure proper exfoliation.  Soaking a foot in a whirlpool bath will waterlog the skin and will be harder to see where the skin is peeling and needs attention.

Toenails with psoriasis will have a crumble or pitted appearance.  The reason for this is when the nail grows out of the matrix (cuticle) it is not fully developed therefore it looks disintegrated but in reality the nail is just shedding.  It can be a very slow process.  A person with psoriasis in their toenails will want to avoid stubbing their toe or injuring their toe nail as it will be a long time for the nail to grow out since it has a very hard time fully developing.

Psoriatic arthritis, affects the larger joints in your body – large toe, ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow and thumb.  It can be very painful.  We offer a paraffin treatment to the feet to relax the muscles and sooth the joints. Approximately 15% of psoriasis patients develop psoriatic arthritis which can be diagnosed with a blood test negative.  Early detection is important to prevent future joint damage.

Sources:  Medical News Today, WebMD, Mayo Clinic, Rhumatology.org

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