Kim Kardashian health: The icon’s ‘unpredictable’ and irritable skin condition – symptoms

Kim Kardashian West delivers opening monologue on SNL

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Although on the surface it seems that Kim has flawless skin, in actuality the star has a condition that causes scaly patches around her scalp, elbows and knees. The star inherited the condition known as psoriasis from “momager” Kris Jenner, and only discovered that she had the condition herself when it flared up at the age of 25.

Writing in Poosh magazine she said: “When I was 25, I had my first psoriasis flare-up. I got a common cold, and since psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, this triggered it. It was all over my stomach and legs.”

After consulting a dermatologist the star’s condition cleared up. Thinking that she was cured, the star didn’t experience another flare up until hitting her early thirties.

Unsure that the condition was actually psoriasis, she consulted her mum Kris, who recognised the distinctive patches of irritated skin from her own experience and broke the news to her daughter.

Kim said: “This is when my real psoriasis journey began. For the past eight years, although the spots are unpredictable, I can always count on my main spot on my right lower leg, which consistently stays flared up. I have learned to live with this spot without using any creams or medication—I just deal.”

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The NHS explains that psoriasis is a skin condition that only affects small patches of skin but these patches can become extremely sore and itchy.

The condition affects around two percent of people in the UK and can start at any age. Most typically psoriasis is a long-lasting (chronic) disease that usually involves periods when you have no symptoms or mild symptoms, followed by periods when symptoms are more severe.

Unusually for Kim, what she thought was just psoriasis turned out to be psoriatic arthritis. This is a type of arthritis that affects only people with the skin condition and can cause joints to become swollen, stiff and painful.

Kim recalled when she found out she had the condition: “One night, I woke up to use the restroom and I physically couldn’t pick up my phone. I thought it was strange but maybe I just slept on my hands weird and I was so tired.

“I woke up that morning and I still couldn’t pick up my phone. I was freaking out—I couldn’t even pick up a toothbrush, my hands hurt so badly. I had worked out the day before and we did an arm day, so I thought maybe one of the exercises strained my hand. It didn’t cross my mind that it could be anything serious. As the day went on, I got a bit more movement in my hands, but they really hurt from the inside—I felt it in my bones.

“After I flew home I went to the doctor. I had my blood tested for all possibilities, and it came back positive for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I immediately started to cry and felt so lost.

“I went back three days later, which felt like the longest three days of my life! It turns out those tests were a false positive and I did not have rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. I had psoriatic arthritis.

“It’s still painful and scary, but I was happy to have a diagnosis. No matter what autoimmune condition I had, I was going to get through it, and they are all manageable with proper care.”

The severity of the condition can vary from person to person and similar to normal psoriasis, individuals can experience “flare-ups” when symptoms get worse and periods of “remission” when symptoms improve.

It tends to develop five to 10 years after psoriasis is diagnosed, although some people may have problems with their joints before they notice any skin-related symptoms.

Like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is thought to happen as a result of the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue. However it is unclear why some people with psoriasis develop arthritis and some do not.

Now 40 years old Kim has been able to deal with her autoimmune conditions. She added: “I’ve become extremely comfortable with my psoriasis. No matter where it is on my body, sometimes I am fine with showing it off and other times I don’t want it to be a distraction, so I cover it up with body makeup.

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“If you have psoriasis, you can’t let it ruin your life or get the best of you. You have to do what you can to make sure you are comfortable but not let it take over.”

Treatments for psoriatic arthritis aims to do the following:

• Relieve symptoms
• Slow the condition’s progression
• Improve quality of life.

To do this, treatments usually involve a number of different medicines, some of which also treat psoriasis.

The NHS recommends if possible that individuals should take one medicine to treat both your psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The main medicines used to treat the condition include the anti-inflammatory drugs and drugs that help to reduce pain and swelling.

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