Does anyone with psoriasis (or similar) feel more confident talking to their barber/hairdresser than their doctor?
I wonder how others feel about this...
I have had psoriasis for around 15 years now, and I've learned to live with it, refining a routine over time that allows me to be confident that I'm in control.
However, I wanted to raise the point around support and advice networks - specifically on barbers and hairdressers vs doctors and medical professionals. Both have helped me on my journey, but in different ways and at different times - throwing my experience out here.
Personally, I felt more confident talking to my barber about my condition as it started to appear, and I looked to them for advice, their opinions on what it could have been (prior to diagnosis) and also how to manage it (after diagnosis). Now, I get it that not everyone will have this, as it depends how close you are to your barber or hairdresser - for me, I've built up a relationship with my barber where I now call him a close friend. Nonetheless, I value his opinion and advice from a professional standpoint too, possibly because he spends so much time around scalps and see's real-world lived experience from different perspectives with scalp conditions.
This doesn't mean that I don't also value the opinions and knowledge of medical professionals, as it took them to give me a formal diagnosis and get hold of prescription medication, but the point is that my barber was my 'first port of call'.
While my doctor got me onto Dovobet, which is a steroid gel I use for nasty flare ups, my barber actually got me onto the rest and probably most important part of my routine...
They helped me realise that both my diet and stress levels could be impacting flare ups - turns out they were! They helped me think of a different nutritional routine, and what I could do to reduce stress.
They also got me onto coal-tar shampoo (I ended up using one called Polytar, although there are a few about - this one worked well for me), which is an important albeit relatively passive part of my routine.
So yeah, both doctors and barbers helped me along the way, but I feel it's weighted in favour of my barber more so than my doctor.
Wonder what other folks' experience and thoughts are on this subject.