What is Palmoplantar Pustulosis?An autoimmune skin disease - Affecting the palm and the sole of your hands and feet
Here's all the information and what you need to know.Palmoplantar Pustulosis (PPP) is a rare incurable skin disease which goes under a few different names such as Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis , Pustular Psoriasis, Palmoplantar Psoriasis and Pustulosis Palmoplantaris. They are all related but are more commonly referred to as PPP.
PPP usually develops in middle-aged adults and are more frequent in women than men which follows the pattern of any other autoimmune diseases. I was 33 years old when I was finally diagnosed with PPP, after suffering from the disease for a year and a half without knowing what was wrong with me. My dermatologist explained PPP is an autoimmune skin disease and I was told mostly female smokers contracts it, my doctor also informed me PPP is chronic and they know the condition is often triggered after an infection such as tonsillitis (strep throat infection). The disease is very rare and there are no available data over how big percentages of the general population globally is affected. The reported prevalence of PPP from studies made in Sweden, Germany, Japan, USA and Denmark varied from 0.050% to 0.120%. The general understanding is that PPP has little affect on the health in general apart from it's very uncomfortable and painful. Usually, pressure, rubbing and friction will worsen Palmoplantar Pustulosis. But the general idea that Palmoplantar Pustulosis doesn't affect the overall health, is just not true. The quality of life is significantly impaired, as expected for a disease affecting hands and feet. Any autoimmune disease signals there is something very wrong and should be dealt with to avoid any other serious future health issues. Is Palmoplantar Pustulosis a form of psoriasis?The scientists are divided if they can categorise PPP under the psoriasis family as the diseases don't have the same genetic setup. But 24% of PPP patients do have psoriasis on other body parts. Both Psoriasis and Palmoplantar Pustulosis are autoimmune diseases attacking the skin.
There is an association with other autoimmune diseases particularly gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, thyroid disease and type 2 diabetes. SymptomsPPP is localised in that way it appears only on the palm and sole of your hands and feet. It's a skin condition that is difficult to treat. Basically It’s a chronic inflammatory illness characterised by a crops of sterile pustules, that looks like little blisters. The PPP outbreaks keeps erupting in cycles repeatedly over time. The PPP affected area is very painful and itchy and often occur in conjunction with thickened skin lesions which tend to crack, resulting in bleeding and pain. When the pustules dry, they will form brownish scabs which are gradually exfoliated.
As the little blisters or pustules are sterile they are not contagious but can seem so to somebody who doesn't know what it is, and visually it doesn't look very pretty which makes the sufferer self conscious and often depressed. The condition varies in severity and may persist for many years before getting a spell of remission. Visit my picture page for photos of what Palmoplantar Pustulosis looks like. What causes Palmoplantar Pustulosis?It's not known what triggers flare-ups as there are not that many studies on the subject, but the onset of Palmoplantar Pustulosis has been closely linked to stress, candida, smoking, gluten sensitivity, irritants, friction, and trauma as well as recurrent strep throat infections.
Conventional treatments for Palmoplantar PustulosisThere are various conventional treatments for PPP; however most of them are not very effective, and responses to individual treatments are variable and unpredictable -- and if they do work it’s often for a shorter period of time. Once PPP is established it may last for decades and impairs the mobility of the hands and feet, causing severe pain, itching and embarrassment as I mention above.
Hydrocolloid plasters and gel A hydrocolloid dressing is a wafer type of dressing that contains gel-forming agents that don't cling to the wound, only to the intact skin around the wound. For me, the hydrocolloid plasters were a lifesaver during my time of illness, they stopped the skin from becoming hard and scaly, and this resulted in fewer cracks forming and in less bleeding. With hydrocolloid plasters on I could even do the dishes and take baths as they are waterproof. Coal tar Some dermatologists advocate the use of tar and coal tar preparations for Palmoplantar Pustulosis to be used to help reduce thick scaling. Treatment can be messy, but modern refined tar preparations are less smelly and messy than the traditional unrefined products. Many applications can be purchased over the counter. There is a study by Kumar et al, where 76.5% of patients treated with 6% crude coal tar ointment during the night for 8 weeks showed greater than 50% improvement with no reported side effects. PUVA PUVA or photochemotherapy is a type of ultraviolet radiation treatment (phototherapy) used for severe skin diseases. It's a combination treatment which consists of applying Psoralens (P) to the affected area, and then exposing the skin to UVA (long wave ultraviolet radiation). Psoralen is a natural product which occurs naturally in the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia, as well as in the common fig, celery, parsley, West Indian satinwood, and in all citrus fruits Biologics Some people with PPP have been successful and ended up in remission from their PPP after receiving biologics, but for some their PPP were triggered first after receiving a biologic for other health reasons. Biologic drugs are given by injection or intravenous (IV) infusion and is a protein-based drug derived from living cells cultured in a laboratory (cells from humans or mice etc...). While biologics have been used to treat disease for more than 100 years, modern-day techniques have made biologics much more widely available as treatments, especially in the last decade. Biologics are different from traditional systemic drugs that impact the entire immune system, instead they are set out to target specific parts of the immune system, such as block the action of a specific T cell, or block proteins in the immune system, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 17-A, or interleukins 12 and 23. These cells and proteins all play a major role in developing psoriasis. Anyone considering taking a biologic drug should talk with his or her doctor about the short- and long-term side effects and risks. It is important to weigh the risks against the benefits of using the drugs. How do you treat Palmoplantar Pustulosis naturally?There's many of us who went it to remission from PPP by making certain lifestyle and diet changes. Using myself as an example I have now been clear from PPP for the last 9 years.
My healing journey to remission wasn’t easy and it took extensive research and trial and error before finally getting there. But by changing my diet and removing all the stuff that harmed my body, I finally regained my health and got my life back. The way I see it, a healthy diet and a lifestyle change is the only way to truly heal from PPP. When it comes to autoimmunity, diet works for two reasons: |
If you want to heal your palmoplantar Pustulosis naturally, Do get a copy of my book where I teach in detail how to succeed and how to end up in remission long term.
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- It removes foods that cause an autoimmune response and trigger inflammation and antibody activity.
- It floods the body with the essential nutrients required for healing.
If you are interested to heal from PPP using a holistic approach, do consider reading my book. The book will teach you step by step what you need to do to clear your PPP. The topics in my book include my own PPP journey, but you will also learn about how complex the immune system is and how it operates and what causes PPP in the first place, such as all its triggers. The book will give you an understanding of how it's all connected.
The summary of the book is how you can end up in remission by doing a few lifestyle changes when it comes to your diet and overall health but also to understand what's happening and going on inside your body while suffering from an autoimmune disease. The book is also listing all triggers that normally onset Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis.
I also recommend reading some of the success stories of my readers here on the blog for inspiration and for taking part in their healing journey as well.
Åsa Kärrman
The summary of the book is how you can end up in remission by doing a few lifestyle changes when it comes to your diet and overall health but also to understand what's happening and going on inside your body while suffering from an autoimmune disease. The book is also listing all triggers that normally onset Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis.
I also recommend reading some of the success stories of my readers here on the blog for inspiration and for taking part in their healing journey as well.
Åsa Kärrman
Palmoplantar Pustulosis outbreak on the palm of a hand
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Palmoplantar Pustulosis outbreak on the sole of a foot
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Palmoplantar Pustulosis outbreak on the palm of a hand
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