Is Psoriasis Contagious – An Introduction

Living with psoriasis is a challenge, not only to yourself but also the people around you. Family members, friends and work colleagues are a part of your everyday life. If you are diagnosed with psoriasis, some of your possible major concerns – is psoriasis contagious? Can I give it to someone by touching them? Will psoriasis spread to other parts of my body?

It’s normal to have these kinds of thoughts to run through your mind. After all, psoriasis just erupted on your skin from nowhere.

It’s estimated that about four to seven million American are diagnosed with psoriasis every year. Do all of these new psoriasis patients contract from another psoriasis sufferer? To decode the question – “is psoriasis contagious”, we need to take a look at how psoriasis develops. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease, caused by genetics. In other words, the body’s immune system is being mistakenly triggered causing skin cells to be produced too rapidly. The normal skin cell replacement cycle takes about 21 – 28 days. However for patients with psoriasis they take 2 – 6 days to replace. Since the root cause is the body’s own immune system, there is no way psoriasis can be contracted by contact or passed on to someone. Thus psoriasis is not contagious.

It is possible for psoriasis to worsen due to infection, weather, diet imbalance or stress. These are known as triggers to the immune system. Triggers can worsen the affected skin area, but it won’t cause a spread from the affected area to other body parts. To simply put, touching your psoriasis affected skin and then placing your hand on other parts of the body won’t cause psoriasis to develop there. But internal triggers can make psoriasis appear on unaffected parts of your body. This is the reason why self-attention is important for psoriasis sufferers. Controlling your diet, regular exercise and stress management is essential to keep psoriasis under control.

But, is psoriasis contagious if you are sharing something with someone? (Example: sharing your bed with your wife)

The answer again, is a no. Psoriasis cannot be passed on by contact or sharing the same items. In case you develop psoriasis due to a common trigger such as an infection or a severe illness, it is possible to pass on that infection or illness on to others. Psoriasis itself is not contagious, but the underlying factors which resulted in psoriasis could be contagious. But remember, not everyone develops psoriasis when contagious infection or illness is caught. Infection and illness is mere trigger factors of psoriasis, the chances of developing psoriasis due to these triggers depends on multiple other factors too.

I hope this has given you a clear picture to the question – is psoriasis contagious.

Another thing to note, psoriasis can evolve into psoriatic arthritis for some psoriasis sufferers. Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory, destructive form of arthritis. About 10%-35% of psoriasis patients are associated with this disorder too. Joint pains can be the initial signs of psoriatic arthritis with a completely clear skin. This disorder is treated with medications to stop the progression. As for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is not contagious. Yet, psoriasis patients need to be aware of possibilities in developing psoriatic arthritis, as it’s known to cause nail and finger loss.

These concludes – is psoriasis contagious. Even though psoriasis is not contagious, always remind yourself to keep a tab on efforts to heal psoriasis and possible emerging signs of psoriatic arthritis. The latter can be critical.

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