certain factors may trigger psoriasis including the following: injury to the skin: injury to the skin has been associated with plaque psoriasis. for example a skin infection skin inflammation or even excessive scratching can trigger psoriasis. sunlight: most people generally consider sunlight to be beneficial for their psoriasis. however a small minority find that strong sunlight aggravates their symptoms. a bad sunburn may worsen psoriasis. streptococcal infections: some evidence suggests that streptococcal infections may cause a type of plaque psoriasis. these bacterial infections have been shown to cause guttate psoriasis a type of psoriasis that looks like small red drops on the skin. hiv: psoriasis typically worsens after an individual has been infected with hiv. however psoriasis often becomes less active in advanced hiv infection. drugs: a number of medications may aggravate psoriasis. some examples are as follows: lithium: drug used to treat bipolar disorder. beta-blockers: drugs used to treat high blood pressure. antimalarials: drugs used to treat malaria. nsaids: drugs such as ibuprofen (motrin and advil) or naproxen (aleve) used to reduce pain or inflammation. emotional stress: many people see an increase in their psoriasis when emotional stress is increased. smoking: cigarette smokers have an increased risk of chronic plaque psoriasis. alcohol: alcohol is considered a risk factor for psoriasis particularly in young to middle-aged men. hormone changes: the severity of psoriasis may fluctuate with hormonal changes. disease frequency peaks during puberty and menopause. a pregnant woman's symptoms are more likely to improve than worsen during her pregnancy if any changes occur at all. in contrast symptoms are more likely to flare in the period after childbirth if any changes occur at all.
what triggers psoriatic arthritis?