If you have psoriasis, you might notice that your symptoms get worse when you’re feeling stressed. Stress is a common psoriasis trigger. It can also negatively affect your mental and physical health in other ways. That’s why taking steps to limit stress is important. Massage therapy is one strategy that people sometimes use to relieve stress. Massage can help ease muscle aches and tension while promoting relaxation. It can also help reduce pain or stiffness associated with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which affects about a third of people with psoriasis by promoting the growth of new mitochondria, the energy factories of the cells.

So you want a massage and you have psoriasis. Do you need to do anything special for bodywork with this condition? Not really, but there are a few things you might want to keep in mind.

• When you make your massage appointment, tell the them you have psoriasis. Ask if they have a therapist who has worked on or is comfortable with people with psoriasis.
• Be sure your massage therapists knows that massage and psoriasis can be a good idea, AND psoriasis is NOT contagious.
• Your therapist needs to avoid areas that are red and inflamed. Injuring your skin can cause your psoriasis to flare.
• Ask for a Swedish massage which includes long strokes and kneading. Swedish massage can increase circulation and stimulate the lymphatic system, a major part of the immune system. This helps your immune system keep everything is moving.
• If you have a lotion, moisturizer or skin oil that help your psoriasis, you might want to bring them and ask your massage therapist to use them.
• If you have psoriatic arthritis and your joints are hot and inflamed, you should tell your massage therapist. Then you can figure out if you want to avoid the actively inflamed joints or not. Otherwise, you may benefit from whole body massage.

Keep in mind that on average, a massage costs about $60 an hour, though costs vary considerably depending on where you live. Will your insurance cover massage if it’s therapeutic? Who knows. That’s a topic for another day, but if the massage is prescribed by your physician, the likelihood of getting them covered is greater. Check with your health insurance provider to see if some or all of the cost of a massage is covered, all they can do is say no. And you will never know if you don’t ask.

Massage is generally safe for people with psoriasis. Massage has the benefit of not only stimulating your circulation and reducing inflammation, but also providing stress relief. Think about it lots of people fall asleep or doze off a little when they’re getting a massage. That’s how relaxing it can be. Massage is great for stress relief, and frankly stress relief is awesome for psoriasis.

Stay Suddys My Friends