Can Meditation Help My Psoriasis?

Meditation can reduce stress, which may help relieve your psoriasis symptoms. Here are some interesting benefits to consider, and some beginner tips to get started.

Meditation may offer you an effective way to deal with stress, which could possibly help reduce your psoriasis flares. The practice comes in several different forms, which all help you to refocus your mind and reduce your stress.

Meditation is a form of complementary therapy. This means healthcare professionals may recommend using it alongside standard therapy for psoriasis.

But it’s not a replacement for medical treatment. Instead, it’s like adopting a positive lifestyle change that can help but won’t cure the disease. 

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Possible benefits of meditation for psoriasis

Psoriasis goes deeper than your skin. It’s an autoimmune disorder associated with systemic or whole-body inflammation.

Researchers have identified a connection between stress and inflammation. When your stress level goes up, your chances of having a flare increase.

This is where meditation comes in. Meditation can help you calm your stress levels, which could help reduce symptom severity or help prevent flares from occurring.

Other possible benefits include:

• helping to reduce anxiety or depression — two common comorbidities associated with psoriasis
• providing a healthier means to cope with stress compared to other unhealthy habits
• helping with feelings of self-worth to help overcome feelings of stigma or other negative emotional effects
• giving you more confidence to continue with standard psoriasis treatments

While meditation may be helpful, it’s not a substitute or replacement for standard treatments for psoriasis. But unlike some complementary therapies, such as taking supplements, it shouldn’t interfere or cause any unexpected side effects.

This means you can safely start meditation with or without discussing it with your treatment team first.

How effective is it?

Meditation for psoriasis is not well-studied, but there’s some evidence suggesting it’s an effective strategy to help with your symptoms.

According to the results of a 2022 research review, 5 of the 6 studies included showed evidence that scores on the self-administered Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (saPASI) improved after meditation and mindfulness interventions. One of the studies also showed improvements in mental health.

The review suggests that meditation can provide short-term improvement in both overall quality of life and psoriasis severity. But the researchers also note that future studies are needed to fully understand these findings.

A 2018 review of studies examined complementary therapies’ — including meditation, diet, and acupuncture — effect on psoriasis. They found enough evidence to suggest that meditation does help with symptom improvement.

In short, adding meditation to your regular care routine may help improve your symptoms, prevent flares, and possibly improve your overall quality of life. However, you’ll likely need to continue the practice to maintain the positive effects.

How to get started with meditation

Meditation isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy. Different types of therapy may work well for you but not as well for someone else.

If you try and don’t like a type of meditation, you can always try another form.

If you’re new to meditation, it may be beneficial to try to start with a guided meditation. Guided meditation provides structure and helps guide you toward greater relaxation.

It’s also very flexible. You can get started with an audio or video recording, or you could look for in-person classes.

Also, a quick Google search for “guided meditation” will lead you to numerous videos to choose from, some led by instructors who offer in-person classes as well.

If you choose guided meditation at home, you’ll want to set up a relaxing environment before getting started. This can be as simple as finding a comfortable chair, dimming the lights, taking away distractions, and maybe lighting a candle.

Once you get set up, you can start the video or recording.

Tips to consider

Some things to keep in mind about meditation include:

• Find your style: Several meditation methods exist. Some explore spirituality, while others involve chanting, so picking one that works well for you can help you stick with it.
• Don’t force it: While consistency is key to good results, it shouldn’t feel like a chore or “work.” So if you don’t look forward to it or find it tedious, you may want to try a different approach.
• Make a routine: Try picking a time that works well for you, such as morning or right before bed.
• Consider a class: If you don’t know where to start, consider trying an in-person class to help you get started.
• Take baby steps: Start off small; if you’re new to the practice, try for a few minutes each day and build your way up to longer sessions.

Next steps

If you’re interested in mediation, you can get started in several ways:

• accessing videos online from meditation coaches or teachers
• finding a local therapist to help get you started
• discussing your ideas with a member of your healthcare team — they may have suggestions for local coaches or teachers

Bottom line

Keep in mind that meditation may help with your stress and may have a positive impact on your overall symptoms, but it’s not a replacement for your regular psoriasis treatments and skin routines. 

Instead, meditation may help improve your overall quality of life and complement other treatments to help further reduce symptom severity.