If you suffer from psoriasis, you know how painful it can be to have dry, inflamed and flakey skin. You may be able to use coconut oil to help with your psoriasis treatment. Coconut oil is a natural way to reduce inflammation in the skin and help to soothe your psoriasis.
How Coconut Oil Helps Psoriasis
Coconut oil owes its effectiveness to three acids: lauric acid, caprylic acid and capric acid. These acids work to provide antifungal, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties to coconut oil. With these properties coconut oil can help ease symptoms of psoriasis because these features make it anti-inflammatory. Coconut oil also features vitamin E, which helps to protect your skin from damage and to repair it.
Applying Coconut Oil
Not all types of coconut oil are created equally. You want to get coconut oil that's raw and cold pressed. Heavily processed coconut oils may not have the same anti-inflammatory properties that make it effective in helping ease psoriasis symptoms.
When applying coconut oil to your skin, especially in conjunction with any prescribed steroid creams, you should always apply the steroid cream first. This allows the steroid cream to absorb first. Applying a thin layer of coconut oil over top will seal moisture in to your skin.
If you're applying coconut oil to your psoriasis patches, it's always best to do it at night to give the oil plenty of time to absorb into your skin. In order to avoid getting oil on your bedding, you should apply the oil to your skin or scalp and then put on an old shirt, cap, or anything else to keep the oil from rubbing off as you sleep.
For scalp-based psoriasis, coconut oil can help loosen stubborn skin flakes and help soothe an itchy scalp. In the morning, after the oil has soaked into your scalp, you can use a wide-toothed comb to gently pry away the loosened scales on your scalp. Prying away the loosened scales can help make other treatments your doctor prescribes more effective because they won't have to soak through the scales first.
Working With Your Doctor
Psoriasis can be a difficult condition to endure. If you want to try using coconut oil to treat your psoriasis, speak to your doctor. Your doctor will be able to advise if coconut oil is a viable option and that it won't interact poorly with any of your current psoriasis treatments. If you develop a rash or your psoriasis symptoms worsen, it's best to discontinue your coconut oil use and contact a doctor like Henry D. McKinney M.D. for further direction.
Share2 November 2015
