In this article I share my research on oils that are beneficial for psoriasis, backed up by my own success in making lotions to manage my skin for every psoriasis occasion. You will realise how easy and affordable it is for you to make soothing lotions that calm psoriasis, relieve pain and reduce psoriasis inflammation

It is possible to give ourselves comfort and relief from psoriasis, potentially with long term healing, by using cold-pressed, food grade oils, and I will explain how, and most importantly, WHY these oils work so well.

Purity

Using oils in their purest form makes them most effective. Some oils are of little use when they are less than 50% of the active ingredient. Oils in cosmetic products, stabilised with preservatives, are inferior to food oils that you can afford to buy, and at a quality that is fit for human consumption.  If however, you use essential oils, take care with their potency and follow instructions about whether these need to be carried by other complimentary oils.  

This research is based on using oils that are cold pressed. Cold pressed plant oils have better nutritive properties than those that have undergone the refining process. This is because the cold pressing procedure does not involve heat or chemical treatments, which may alter their composition and therapeutic effects.

Your personal blend of psoriasis treatment oils

This is your guide to making your own skin oils for psoriasis, where you can choose your own ingredients and blend the oils to whatever ratio you prefer, depending on the current condition of your psoriasis. There is no right or wrong way to blend these oils when you use cold pressed oils that have been stored correctly in airtight, temperature and light controlled conditions.

If your psoriasis is angry and flared, then look for the oils with anti-inflammatory properties. If you are planning on going public with skin that is flaking a lot, then consider adding some oils that have anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties to slow down flaking and growth of skin cells. If you have been taking antibiotics then restore your skin microbiota balance with antibacterial/microbial oils so that unwanted bacteria and other life forms are not dominating your skin environment. These are just some examples of how you can blend the oils to treat your psoriasis to suit your current personal situation.

Above all else, go ahead and have fun blending your oils, and take the time to pamper yourself when you apply these, knowing that you are doing something very positive to calm and heal your psoriasis.

The information I offer you is well researched and is backed by scientific and traditional medicine know how. I have included references to my research.

Oil properties beneficial to psoriasis

These are the properties to look for when you blend your psoriasis oils:

Moisture – use oils with skin barrier repair properties during dry, cold and windy conditions when you need lipid penetration for deep moisturisation.

UV protection – I have indicated the UV protection levels however advise caution as this research is new.

Anti-inflammatory – use oils with anti-inflammatory properties when your psoriasis is raised, red, hot and angry, or when you know that you have triggered your psoriasis through diet, stress, medication or external environment.

Anti-proliferative – use these oils when your psoriasis patches are flaking too fast. The anti-proliferative properties such as linoleic acid slow down the overproduction of psoriasis skin cells (hyper proliferation of keratinocytes).

Pro-apoptotic – use oils with these properties to slow down flaking and raising of psoriasis patches. Pro- apoptotic response triggers death receptors in inflamed and excessive cells.

Antibacterial/microbial – use oils with antibacterial and antimicrobial properties such as resveratrol to restore skin microbiota balance. Useful when you feel you have an imbalance in the good and bad bacteria and pathogens living on your skin (your skin microbiota). This imbalance is usually caused by antibiotics, either internally or as a cream. Studies have shown that probiotics used internally and on the skin can restore a healthy microbiota balance.

Pain relief – use these oils as a rub on psoriasis patches and psoriatic arthritis joints to relieve pain.

Antioxidant – these oils counteract oxidative stress from lifestyle and environment pollutants.

I have ranked the following oils I recommend, based on the benefits listed above.

• Moisture
• UV protection
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-proliferative
• Pro-apoptotic
• Antibacterial/microbial
• Pain relief
• Antioxidant

Oils that benefit Psoriasis Skins

Bitter Apricot Oil

In Eastern medicine, bitter apricot seed (Semen Armeniacae amarum) has been traditionally used to treat skin diseases. Bitter apricot oil has great potential for treating psoriasis because it is pro-apoptotic, meaning that it reduces the proliferation of keratinocytes, the cells that cause psoriatic skin to grow too quickly. [1].

• Moisture
• Pro-apoptotic

Sesame Oil

Sesame oil has been used in traditional Taiwanese medicine to relieve the inflammatory pain of joints and wounds [1]. When sesame oil is applied to the skin it reduces inflammation, is anti-oxidant, reduces pain on the skin and in the joints, and reduces or delays the risk of skin cancer.

• Moisture
• UV protection. Sesame oil resists 30% of UV rays [5].
• Anti-inflammatory
• Pain relief
• Antioxidant
• Sesame oil smells good too – it is used in perfumes by Givency and Giorgio Armani and also in alternative butters for the buttery aromas.

Olive Oil

Oleocanthal and ligstroside aglycone are olive oil-derived polyphenols which have anti-proliferative properties. In fact a high dietary intake of olive oil is associated with reduced incidence of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, Alzheimer disease, osteoporosis and cancer [3]. Olive oil is an anti-inflammatory [1]

• Moisture
• UV protection. Olive oil blocks out about 20% of UV rays [5].
• Anti inflammatory
• Anti proliferative

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil forms a protective layer on our skin and increases wound healing and collagen building. Furthermore, topical coconut oil protects the skin from UV radiation. Coconut oil in concentrations of 5% to 40% (w/w) show anti bacterial activity against harmful bugs that live in and on our skin including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, and Bacillus subtilis. Cellular studies have also shown that coconut oil offers antiviral and antifungal activity.

• Moisture
• UV protection. Coconut oil blocks out about 20% of UV rays [5].
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-proliferative
• Antibacterial/microbial
• Antioxidant

Grape Seed Oil

Resveratrol in grape seed oil has an antimicrobial activity against pathogens, such as Staphylococcal aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Psedomonas aeruginosa.

Grape seed oil has a high content of linoleic acid, vitamin E, and phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds, resveratrol, and vitamin E in grape seed oil provide most of its antioxidant activity. Moreover, phytosterols present in grape seed oil may modulate pro-inflammatory mediators.

1. Anti-inflammatory
2. Antibacterial/microbial

East Indian Sandalwood Oil

East Indian Sandalwood oil (EISO) has significant anti-inflammatory properties in skin models and offers therapeutic benefit to psoriasis patients due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties. A recent controlled test measured the effect of EISO on the psoriasis skin of 11 participants, In nine of the eleven evaluable subjects in the trial, the severity of psoriatic plaques was reduced by end of study. Further studies showed that using EISO on the skin reduced the reduced the psoriasis-forming markers to that of normal skin. 

1. Anti-inflammatory
2. Anti-proliferative

Walnut Oil

My personal favourite is walnut oil, straight from the supermarket bottle, as a tonic and on the skin, every day. Walnut oil has played a big role in my psoriasis healing journey and is my favourite tool in the toolbox.

I love this oil because it has a high omega-3 and omega-6 content, is anti-inflammatory, is functional in reducing skin cancer and gives me reasonable UV protection (not measurable) which is important because I am a Caucasian living in the sub-tropics.

Walnut (Juglans regia L., fam. Juglandaceae) fruit is reported as one of the richest in phenolic compounds among edible plants and because of that, walnut extracts made of leaves, husks, kernels or shells are proven to be beneficial for human health in many aspects. For example, walnut-derived polyphenols remove free radicals, and some have even more potent antioxidant activity than ascorbic acid. Juglone, one of the main phenolic compounds in walnut, shows potential anti tumour effect because it can apoptosise (cause death of) tumour cells.

Apart from antioxidant activity, walnut extracts also has significant antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and antiviral capacity. Walnut limits the development of the inflammation in the skin’s epidermis, and also has ability to inhibit collagenase and elastase, the enzymes that break down collagen and elastic.

Just when it couldn’t be any better, walnut extract is a promising compound of sunscreen and anti-aging cosmetic formulations.

• Moisture
• UV protection. Walnut oil blocks out about 20% of UV rays [5].
• Anti-inflammatory
• Pro-apoptotic
• Antibacterial/microbial
• Antioxidant
• Walnut oil smells delicious too. It’s used in perfumes by Givency and Bvlgari

Journal activity

Blending oils for psoriasis treatment

• Record in your journal which of these oils you have already. Make a list of which oils you will want to buy. There is no need to spend a lot of money as most of these oils are readily available in food stores.
• Make a commitment in your journal about your routine with using these oils, such as mornings, after a shower, before bed.
• If you are currently using pharmaceutical creams, record in your journal how you will integrate the oils and at what point of progress will you phase out the pharmaceutical creams.
• If you have tried this previously and it wasn’t successful, what will you do better this time?

Action Plan

Create an action plan in your journal based on MY PERSONAL PSORIASIS OILS

Define 3 types of personal situations where an oil blend will relieve your psoriasis.

Define the types of oils you will use for each of the 3 blends.

Make the oil blends, enough for two weeks’ use at two applications per day, and store in a clean glass container with a lid, such as a jar. Label the jar with the benefits, such as ‘pain relief’, ‘reduce flaking’, etc. Store the jar(s) in an airtight container out of light. Just a note about this: while different parts of our body have different microbiota residing in our skin and therefore different needs, we can be generic about where on our body we use the oils. Care must be taken with hygiene before, during and after using the oil and no double-dipping!

I hope you enjoy the oils as much as you will delight in the luxurious benefits that these naturally derived oils give to your skin. I wish you quick and speedy results.

References

[1] Lin, Tzu-Kai et al. “Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 19,1 70. 27 Dec. 2017, doi:10.3390/ijms19010070

[2] Sharma, Manju et al.  “East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) Alleviates Inflammatory and Proliferative Pathologies of Psoriasis” Front. Pharmacol., 16 March 2017 doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2017.00125

[3] De Stefanis, Daniela et al. “Anti-Proliferative Effects of an Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Extract Enriched in Ligstroside Aglycone and Oleocanthal on Human Liver Cancer Cell Lines.” Cancers vol. 11,11 1640. 24 Oct. 2019, doi:10.3390/cancers11111640

[4] Hussain, Abdullah Ijaz et al. “Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil: antiproliferative, antioxidant and antibacterial activities.” Brazilian journal of microbiology: [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] vol. 41,4 (2010): 1070-8. doi:10.1590/S1517-838220100004000027

[5] Korać, Radava R, and Kapil M Khambholja. “Potential of herbs in skin protection from ultraviolet radiation.” Pharmacognosy reviews vol. 5,10 (2011): 164-73. doi:10.4103/0973-7847.91114

[6] Przekora, Agata. “UVB protective, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory properties of aqueous extract of walnut (Juglans regia L.) seeds.” Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica 75(5):1167-1176 (2018) doi:10.32383/appdr/82964