Psoriasis Flare: What Helps, What Urgent Care Can Do, and When to Get Seen

Psoriasis is a long-term immune condition that makes skin cells build up too fast, leaving thick, red or darker patches covered with silvery scale, often on the elbows, knees, scalp and lower back. It comes and goes in flares. It isn't contagious. Long-term care usually belongs with a primary care provider or dermatologist, but urgent care can help with a flare, a prescription refill, or skin that's cracked and possibly infected.

What psoriasis looks like

• Raised, well-defined patches with silvery-white scale (plaque psoriasis, the most common type)
• Itching, burning or soreness
• Dry skin that cracks and may bleed
• Pitted, thickened or discolored nails
• Scaling on the scalp that can look like severe dandruff
• On darker skin, patches may look purple, gray or dark brown rather than red

About a third of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis, with joint pain, stiffness and swelling.

Common triggers for a flare

• Cold, dry weather, which is common in Denver winters
• Stress
• Infections, especially strep throat
• Skin injuries, such as cuts, scrapes, sunburn or tattoos
• Some medicines
• Smoking and heavy drinking

What helps

• Rub thick creams or ointments into damp skin after bathing, every day
• Take short, lukewarm baths or showers, and avoid harsh soaps
• Use a humidifier in winter
• Try over-the-counter creams with salicylic acid or coal tar for scale, or hydrocortisone for small itchy areas
• Get small amounts of sun, without burning
• Keep using any prescription treatment as directed, even when skin looks better

What urgent care can do

A clinician can check a flare, prescribe a stronger steroid cream or ointment to calm it, refill a cream you've run out of, and treat a skin infection in cracked patches. If a flare follows a sore throat, they can test for strep. For ongoing treatment, including light therapy and medicines that act on the immune system, you'll be pointed to a dermatologist.

When to get seen

Come in if a flare isn't settling with your usual treatment, you're out of medicine, skin is cracked and painful, or patches look infected. At an AfterOurs clinic, a standard self-pay visit is $175, and a self-pay in-clinic visit never costs more than $330. A telehealth visit is $75. We contract with all major commercial and government plans, including Colorado Medicaid and Medicare. See our rashes page and the cost and insurance page.

Go to the ER or call 911 if red, inflamed skin suddenly covers most of your body, especially with chills, fever, a fast heartbeat or feeling very unwell; if you have widespread pus-filled bumps with fever; or if a patch becomes hot, swollen and very painful with a fever, which can be a spreading skin infection.

Where to find us

Four clinics across metro Denver, all ages welcome, se habla español:

• Hampden (Southeast Denver): 8 AM–11 PM daily
• Littleton: 8 AM–11 PM daily
• Thornton: 8 AM–11 PM daily
• Highlands: Mon–Fri 5–11 PM, Sat–Sun 8 AM–11 PM

Walk in, or book online.