Psoriasis is a chronic, auto-immune skin disease where the skin becomes inflamed, producing red, thickened areas with silvery scales, most often on the scalp, elbows, knees and lower back.

Psoriasis does not spread from one person to another, although it possible to see it in the members of the same family. Two out of every hundred people have psoriasis in the US and approximately 150,000 new cases occur every year.

Appearance

If you have psoriasis, you would observe red, flaky, crusty patches of skin covered with silvery scales. These scales are your dead skin cells. Sometimes pustules, cracked skin or minor bleeding can also be seen. Psoriasis can affect people of any age group or gender but adults are more prone to this. It is most commonly found in areas such as elbows, knees, scalp, lower back, face, palms, and soles of feet. However, it does not mean that it occurs exclusively in these areas; in some it may affect any part of skin.