Inflammation

The over proliferation of skin cells is accompanied by an increased superficial blood supply to the plaques. Because the capillaries run close to the surface of the skin they are easily broken. For the patient this means that the skin can be broken through scratching or knocking it leading to pin-prick bleeding (described earlier). This can be very distressing as it makes a mess of bedding and clothing and also make the plaques more obvious. The redness of the plaques may also be made more obvious by use of treatments and emollients. This is because the superficial white scale on the surface is removed exposing the inflammation of the plaque. Patients with psoriasis will also often complain that their skin feels extremely hot and sensitive; this is probably explained by the inflammation of the plaques.