Healing your skin through natural methods is a process that demands a great deal of patience. When you begin a skin healing diet/lifestyle, your body is going to enter a fairly rapid detoxification process which will initiate a chain of detoxification symptoms.
There are three stages of natural psoriasis healing. There is an initial breakout stage, a climax stage, and a diminishing stage. It truly does follow the story book formula of rise, climax and decline. Your skin is going to have an initial worsening of symptoms, followed by a climax of worsened symptoms, and then the breakouts will finally begin to subside. Given you have committed to the proper skin healing regimen, this final decline stage will eventually lead to a long term elimination of the disease.
BREAKOUT ONSET
In the past, each time I had a breakout I could feel it coming before it happened. The first symptoms would usually occur a few days before the actual breakout. These initial symptoms would usually come in the form of fatigue, an itchy/tingly sensation, and a feeling of increased body temperature/sweating. At this stage, it is clear that something has upset the balance of your immune system and your body has gone into a sort of hyperdrive in an attempt to eliminate the toxins that it has identified as foreign.
Side note: Whether you are beginning your skin healing regimen immediately after the breakout onset or you are beginning it after you already have developed plaques on your body, you will still go through the same initial breakout process.
STAGE 1: INITIAL BREAKOUT
SMALL RED DOTS FORM
The first visible symptom that will likely occur is the formation of large clusters or small red dots (If you already have developed plaques on your body, these are likely to form around your existing lesions.) At first, the dots are no bigger than a pimple or a zit. Your body has initiated your skin in the detoxification process and is pushing toxins through these small lesions. At this point there really is not stopping the breakout process from progressing. You will likely continue to develop more and more small dots as the days go by. Don’t get discouraged. Know that this is simply the beginning of the detoxification process.
INCREASED REDNESS
One thing that is very important to understand in the early stages of healing, is that your condition is going to get worse before it gets better. If you are following a proper healing diet and are taking the necessary steps to naturally heal, your body is going to be putting a lot of pressure on your largest detoxification organ (your skin). These small red dots will probably become more “angry” looking as the redness increases and your body is working overtime to push toxins through your skin.
ITCHING
Itching is arguably the most irritating detox symptom. The detox process has left your skin in a highly activated state and your skin is probably going to become very itchy. As toxins are exiting your body through your skin, this is going to cause a sort of reaction that leaves the lesions feeling bare and susceptible to irritation from anything they come in contact with. Natural topical treatments can soothe some of the itching (aloe vera is my favorite), but nothing will bring you total relief. Try to relax and not to itch too vigorously as you don’t want to further aggravate your skin.
STAGE 2: CLIMAX
RED DOTS EXPAND
In stage 2, the small pimple sized legions will begin to expand and grow into a larger size. The spots will continue to expand for weeks or even months and will eventually form together with the other spots and form larger red patches of skin. At this point, the itching will probably become worse and your skin may even begin to split and bleed which can be pretty painful. This is definitely the most uncomfortable part of the healing process. With that said, your breakout has reached its climax and will now begin to subside as long as you are taking the necessary healing steps.
INCREASE IN FLAKING
Once the lesions stop expanding, they will start to become very flakey as your skin is basically shedding itself. Depending on the severity of your psoriasis, this flaking stage could last anywhere from a month or two to a whole year. There is also some more itchiness that will accompany all of this flaking. As I mentioned earlier, aloe vera is a good way to help ease the itching. It is also pretty effective in speeding up the flaking process. I have found that aloe is great for removing current flakes while prompting the next wave of flakes to form on the surface of the lesions. Remember, flaking is good while healing.
PLAQUES BECOME LIGHTER
As your skin begins to flake away, you will notice that your once deep red spots will begin to lighten up. As time goes on, the spots will slowly take on a more pinkish tone as your body is releasing toxins from the skin. The rate at which this lightening occurs depends on the severity of your psoriasis. If you have had psoriasis for many years now, it may take much longer for your skin to begin progressing when compared to someone who is experiencing their first breakout.
STAGE 3: DIMINISHING
PLAQUES BEGIN TO LOSE FORM
In the third stage of healing, the big wide patches that have formed on your skin will now begin to deteriorate. Your spots will begin to lose their circular form and will become less defined around the edges. In most cases, the lesions will begin to break down from the inside out. The middle of your patches will start to become lighter and lighter and your once solid circular patches will now begin to look more like rings. Depending on the size of your plaques, they may not really look like “rings” but you will notice that the healing does seem to begin at the epicenter of the lesion.
PLAQUES CONTINUE TO GET LIGHTER
As the plaques are diminishing from within, they will inherently become lighter and less raised. You have watched as your spots have gone from deep red to pink and now you will begin to see this pinkish tone begin to lighten even more as your plaques diminish and ultimately uncover your natural skin that lies beneath them. As you enter into this tail end of the third phase, your progress will begin to speed up. It will begin to seem as if your skin is getting more and more clear each and every morning.
WHITE SPOTS
Once your psoriasis has all but completely been eliminated from your skin, you will be left with white spots where your plaques once were. With that said, these spots are virtually unnoticeable. You really won’t be able to see them unless you are looking for them. These are basically just scars left behind by your psoriasis. Although the plaques have been eliminated, the scars will remain for quite a while. Eventually they will disappear just as your psoriasis did. I have found that spending some time in the sun not only helps to clear psoriasis, but it also is effective in helping these white scars diminish and blend in with the rest of your skin.
HOW TO SPEED UP HEALING PROCESS
Although it does take a certain level of willingness to learn and dedication, speeding up the healing process can be much simpler than you may think. Ultimately, it is going to take a consistent combination of diet and detoxification habits. If you are looking for a simple and easy to follow day by day detox plan, click here to be directed to my article “30 Day Diet Protocol To Heal Psoriasis Fast”
