Genital Psoriasis

This type of skin disease shows itself on or around your genitalia and could be the only place to have the symptoms.

However, its symptoms could show up in red patches on other body parts. 

Having Genital psoriasis doesn’t imply that you’ve got an STI or STD. It affects your privates, but with the right treatment, it could lead to healthier skin.

Causes

Genital psoriasis is caused by a rapid increase of your skin cells; therefore, since they can’t be disposed of by your body, they are built up in red scaly patches.

The irregular increase is due to the body wrongly attacking healthy body cells and causing an increase in the generation of new ones.

Your genes play a huge role in whether you develop psoriasis or not. However, some people may not have prior psoriasis cases in their family line but suffer from the disease.

In all, Genital Psoriasis is triggered by some factors. They are;

• Skin Injuries
• Smoking
• Infections
• Being overweight or obese
• Alcoholism
• Stress
• Cold weather
• Certain medicines

These factors can cause flare-ups of Psosiaris in your body. Therefore knowledge about how to manage such factors is crucial to your treatment.

Symptoms

Affected Body Areas:

• Genitals
• The area around your Thigh and groin
• Upper thighs
• Anal region

Each of these areas is affected differently by psoriasis. Patches around the genital area are bright red and shiny.

However, women have gray and scaly patches on their vulva, and men get red plaques on the tip or shaft of their penis.

Itching, stinging sensations, and pain may result in the affected body areas. So if you have the above symptoms, consult your doctor.

Diagnosis

Though there is no test for psoriasis, a dermatologist could diagnose it properly by examining your skin.

To be sure, doctors could pass your skin samples through a biopsy test to check for other skin diseases.

Treatment

Genital psoriasis is not an easy condition to treat. Probably, your first medicine might not help at all. Observe, however, that whatever you apply should not burn or sting your skin.

Some psoriasis treatment measures include low-dose Steroid creams, Calcineurin Inhibitors, Dapsone gel, and systemic medicines.

Biologic drugs are a newer method of targeting the proteins that induce psoriasis in your immune system. They can be given through IV or injected by your doctor.

Some Biologics used for treating Genital Psoriasis include;

• Etanercept (Enbrel)
• Brodalumab (Siliq)
• Adalimumab (Humira)
• Certolizumab Pegol (Cimzia)
• Ixekizumab (Taltz)
• Guselkumab (Tremfya)
• Secukinumab (Cosentyx)
• Infliximab (Remicade)
  And so on.

Some Retinoids like Acitretin could help re-establish control of how fast your skin cells grow and shed-off.

The use of Apremilast (Otezla) pills could help stop the inflammation of the body cells.

Inquire from your doctor for guidance on how to combine these medicines for the best results.

Other Treatments Options 

You should always look out for Psoriasis treatments that better affect your body coupled with fewer side effects.

Some other effective treatments include the use of Moisturizer gels and products for daily body care, signing up for a weight loss program, eating fish oil rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and so on.

Genital psoriasis can affect your sex life negatively if not properly managed. Therefore try as much as possible to communicate your feelings and pains with your partner.

Psoriasis cannot be transmitted sexually, so ensure that your partner is aware of that.

Don’t go for sex if it becomes painful. Instead, explore hugging, cuddling, kissing, or any other ways of intimacy. This could even lead to better sex life with your partner.