Unraveling the Root Cause of Psoriasis
Episode 167
Last week, we discussed Eczema and how it progresses from infancy to adulthood. This week on Integrative Wellness Radio. Dr. Nicole joins us with another skin condition episode talking all about Psoriasis. Psoriasis occurs when the immune system causes skin cells to grow faster than usual, and dead cells build up on the skin's surface instead of falling away. In this episode, the Doctor briefs us on the major root causes of Psoriasis. She sheds light on some of the reasons that trigger the immune system to accelerate the rate at which a cell grows leading to the skin condition. You will also learn the difference between Psoriasis and Eczema as Dr. Nicole shares some of the case studies. Tune in to the whole episode to learn more about skin conditions and how you can take better care of the largest organ in your body! Interested in learning more about Dr. Nick & Dr. Nicole’s courses, memberships, or private work? Learn more at Integrative You . Have a quick question, Would you like to schedule a call, or just want to say hi? Text us at 732.913.0009. Our mission to innovate humans & Healthcare does NOT start and stop with us! This is why we are also dedicated to helping other practitioners in evolving healthcare too! If you are a healthcare leader and are looking to up-level your clinical + business excellence Learn more about our course membership: Limitless Healthprenuer and start boldly disrupting this industry! Noteworthy Time Stamps: 02:39 Is our body a bunch of separate systems 05:54 The scary rise of neurological decline 11:17 Can vaccinations play a role? 15:57 Infections associated with psoriasis 18:52 A patient’s case study 24:49 The great imitator of psoriasis 29:43 The importance of tonsils 35:56 Psoriasis is not just a skin condition 43:07 How to encourage lymph flow in your body?
Topics: psoriasis, skin, learn, root, immune, condition, cause, integrative
Key takeaways from this episode
- ## Unraveling the Root Cause of Psoriasis
- Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells, causing rapid growth and buildup.
- Understanding the key triggers and root causes is crucial for effective management and addressing the condition systemically.
- Psoriasis is not solely a skin issue; it often involves systemic inflammation and can manifest with other health concerns.
- Specific infections and the health of the tonsils can play a significant role in triggering or exacerbating psoriasis.
Pull quotes
Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems.
Nick and Dr. **Unknown:** Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey.
So when it comes to autoimmunity, I think that there is a lot of things that are misunderstood, and there is a lot of lack of understanding the origin of where these things come from.
Transcript
**Unknown:** I've been up all night, no sleep. Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems. Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr. Nick and Dr.
**Unknown:** Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine, to learn about what the limitations are with testing, and what you can do to start your health journey. Sometimes I tend to lose myself when I'm out here on the- Hi everyone. Welcome to our next module about skin conditions. So today specifically, we are piggybacking off of our prior week, which was all about eczema, how it starts, can start in infancy and progress its way into adulthood.
**Unknown:** But today we're talking more about psoriasis, and some of the principles that we talked about last week can still apply to the development and onset of psoriasis, but there actually are a lot of other factors that have to be considered as well into how this autoimmune condition does develop and why does it persist in certain people, but it goes away in others. So when it comes to autoimmunity, I think that there is a lot of things that are misunderstood, and there is a lot of lack of understanding the origin of where these things come from. So today, it's really all about uncovering some of the mystery behind psoriasis, understanding, um, how it manifests, why it manifests, and also one of the reasons why certain conventional therapies are not always going to be beneficial. But today it's really all about understanding psoriasis, really understanding, um, some of the myths around why these autoimmune conditions exist, but also really helping you to understand some of the limitations with conventional testing and also limitations with the conventional therapies that exist, especially for psoriasis.
**Unknown:** But really at the end of the day, one of the reasons why I do these in the first place is because I've always kind of pressed the boundaries with always questioning what I have been told. And really what that comes down to is, you know, if you are a naturopath, if you're a chiropractor, if you're an acupuncturist, if you are a medical doctor, you all really go through the same foundational education. And through that it's really just kind of the basics of understanding the body and physiology. But what I find so fascinating is that we then-- we learn physiology, we learn about microbiology, we learn about all these things, and then it's almost like when it comes to clinical care, we're told to forget all of those things.
**Unknown:** And we look at the body as this, a bunch of separate systems, and very often I just kept feeling like this doesn't make sense. And when I got into clinical practice, and I started dealing with real-life patients, it was even more, uh, prevalent that things didn't make sense. So we really kept challenging and evolving our own practices by asking better questions. And really what got us where we are today is we really stopped looking at the body as a segregation of systems and really understanding that everything is constantly in communication with each other.
**Unknown:** And this is really congruent when it comes to conditions like psoriasis. 'Cause psoriasis, you're looking at the skin, or at least for a period of time it's all about the skin, the skin, the skin, and then it becomes about immunology when they realize it is an autoimmune condition. And we're pretty much assuming that because it's manifesting on the skin, that it's a topical skin issue, and it's not internal, which is really what keeps us hitting these roadblocks with helping people to recover from psoriasis. So first and foremost, for those of you that are here because you have it on the merry-go-round, and you haven't been able to really understand where your psoriasis came from, why it exists, why is it not getting better, it is not your fault.
**Unknown:** Because chances are you have not had better comprehensive testing, nobody is asking you better questions, and nobody is giving you any type of strategies that are beyond the cookie cutter approach. They're maybe giving you an immunosuppressant, they're maybe giving you a steroid, but nothing is digging deeper than that. So it is not your fault that you've hit roadblocks. It's not your fault that you've hit plateaus.
**Unknown:** So that is why you are here now, so that you can walk away with a truly an understanding of where the heck did this come from, and why is it persisting. So a basic principle that I've pretty much already briefly touched on is in relation to just understanding the content that we're gonna get into. So number one is most of medicine is based off of specialists. So you have a heart problem, you're going to a cardiologist, you have an immune system problem, you're going to an immunologist, you have a brain problem, you're gonna go to a neurologist.
**Unknown:** But nobody is talking to each other. Nobody is piecing the puzzle together. And we are ignoring basic physiology. And as the most basic example I can give you is that most of your feel-good hormone called serotonin is made in your gut.
**Unknown:** So if most of your feel-good hormone is made in your gut, and you have depression, but you also have gut issues, but your gut issues are not bad enough to be dealt with, then you easily are taking a medication to cover up a symptom of your gut issues. So this is not just that, this is so many, uh, so many similarities to how we're using medicine. We're using it as a way to cover up symptoms that are completely ignoring basic physiology and ignoring the root cause. And we also need to get away from this idea that there's just gonna be this one magical pill that's gonna fix everything for us.
**Unknown:** This is what has gotten most of us to the place that we are now, but it's also why we are living in a massive epidemic of chronic illness. There are so many people sick. There are more food allergies than ever. There is more autoimmune conditions than ever.
**Unknown:** And I think the scariest one is there is so much neurological decline. There is this serious issue with how many people are developing Alzheimer's, dementia, um, Parkinson's, and it's happening younger and younger, and we need to take a step back and ask why. Why is this happening? Why is this such an issue?
**Unknown:** And part of it is that we don't have, or most doctors are not using better testing to look at what's happening inside of us.But I think that, you know, some of the principles that I actually talked about eczema, really some of those principles actually still apply here. And really first and foremost is that you may have had psoriasis develop later down the line, but you potentially had that brewing in the background since literally being in the womb. And what I mean by that is that you can literally have specific types of toxins that are in the amniotic fluid, AKA the fluid that the baby is floating in, that can be a contributing factor to the immune system being compromised, which then leads to a variety of issues with the immune system down the line, which then results in autoimmune conditions like psoriasis. But another big part of that too is that there is definitely so many things that can be-- that can play a role as to where the birth happens and the conditions of the birth.
**Unknown:** So when someone has their-- is born in a hospital, bottom line, you are being exposed to a ton of hospital bacteria. So that hospital bacteria is a combination of strep and staph. And in addition to that is if you were a C-section or your child was a C-section, and they did not go through the birth canal where they got exposed to a variety of good bacteria, then pretty much what happens is they have a lack of the good bacteria, which then protects them from the bad bacteria. So now they're actually going to have a combination of not enough good and too much of the bad.
**Unknown:** And this is just setting the pace for an abnormal skin microbiome, AKA, they have too much bad bacteria on their skin, which makes them susceptible to eczema, which then can lead into psoriasis later. And they also have an abnormal microbiome happening internally. So all that that means is too much bad, not enough good. And then on top of it is most of us have been on antibiotics at some point in time.
**Unknown:** We're on antibiotics maybe because we had a lot of ear infections as a kid. Maybe it's because we had a variety of throat issues. Maybe it's because of upper respiratory infections. Or maybe it was because mom had group B strep, and you going through the birth canal exposed you to that.
**Unknown:** So the antibiotics is something that is a further catalyst for wiping out more of the good bacteria. So antibiotics I know are supposed to target bad bacteria, but they're not biased. Antibiotics are also going to wipe out the good bacteria. And one of the things that is super...
**Unknown:** or I should say not very well known about antibiotics is most antibiotics are made from mold. Mold is also known as fungus, same family as yeast. So this is why when women take antibiotics, sometimes they get a yeast infection. So the reason is, is that your antibiotics, especially things that are in the -cillin family, penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, all of these antibiotics are actually made from a mold called penicillium.
**Unknown:** So when you take a lot of antibiotics, not only are you wiping out a lot of your good bacteria, but in-- so you-- if you can't tell is you're completely altering the, the ecosystem of your body. And that ecosystem doesn't get better. It doesn't just work itself out. You need to actually use specific tools to balance it out.
**Unknown:** So the interesting thing about this too is that formula as well as breast milk, they both have a lot of sugar in them. Yes, even breast milk does. So breast milk has sugar in it because, or I should say disaccharides, it has those sugars because the sugars are supposed to feed the good bacteria in the body or in the baby's body. But if the baby has already been exposed to a variety of bad bacteria, then the sugars in the formula or breast milk are actually gonna feed the bad bacteria as well.
**Unknown:** So then this creates a further catalyst to the problem becoming bigger and bigger. So this is just very important to understand that this can literally be happening right out of the gate. And maybe it starts out as an occasional rash, maybe it starts out as an occasional hive breakout, and then all of a sudden now you're in your teens or your twenties, and you have full-blown psoriasis. So it's usually not that skin issues come completely out of nowhere.
**Unknown:** They usually will stem from other issues. The other thing too is, uh, vaccinations can play a role, mainly because of the immature immune system. So it's not that I'm pro or anti-anything. It's more so to understand that if the baby has already had all of these other factors, that their immune system is stressed because of too much bad bacteria and not enough good, then when you bring in, um, these inoculations to help to protect them against viruses, sometimes the immune system is already stressed, and it's just kind of like the body's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.
**Unknown:** This is really, really overwhelming." So the other big thing too that comes to, specifically to psoriasis is that there's an emotional component. And people don't realize this because there is not a lot of talk about how different emotional pieces can tie into physical health. If anything, most doctors would completely laugh at that concept. But one of the interesting things that I've seen as a common denominator in our psoriasis patients is not feeling comfortable in their own skin.
**Unknown:** And this is not necessarily, uh, about their looks. This is sometimes about their upbringing. It's about always having a lot of pressure on them. It's not being able to meet the expectations that their parents hadIt has to do with verbal abuse from a spouse or a past boyfriend, girlfriend, et cetera.
**Unknown:** So there is definitely a layer there that has to be considered that is often being completely ignored. Um, this is not just the case for psoriasis, this is for a lot of ailments, because most of the time when I do my consultation, I dig and ask a lot of questions, and one of the questions that I ask is in relation to, okay, when this all started, is there anything specific that I should know about stress, different types of emotional traumas? Was there any type of divorce, loss of a loved one, loss of a pet, anything like that? And a lot of times there was some specific catalyst from an emotional perspective that really just was the straw that broke the camel's back and set a lot of the symptoms into motion.
**Unknown:** Um, I'm not gonna sit here and say that that is the case for everyone, but it is definitely something to be considered. Another component to skin issues that is being completely overlooked is the health of the lymphatic system. So let me keep this, like, as simple as possible, is you have lymph nodes everywhere. Most of the time we're aware of our lymph nodes when we get sick and our neck hurts, and all of these glands get swollen.
**Unknown:** You have lymph nodes literally from the top of your head all the way to your toes. Your lymph is very superficial, AKA it's very close to your skin. So your lymph being one of the biggest filters of your body, if it was-- if it's constantly filtering out bad stuff that you're being exposed to, maybe you live in a moldy environment and have no idea. Maybe you are being exposed to different types of chemicals because you work as a mechanic, because you work in a hair salon, and you're constantly getting exposed to different toxins.
**Unknown:** That means your lymphatic system constantly has to filter, filter, filter. So if you think about a vacuum, you have a vacuum, it, it has a filter in it. If you keep using that vacuum, the filter is gonna get more and more full. It's gonna get to the point that even though your vacuum is fine and there's nothing mechanically wrong with it, it doesn't work well anymore because the filter is at max capacity.
**Unknown:** The same thing happens with our bodies. The same thing happens specifically with our lymphatic system. It can also happen with our liver and our kidneys. So if your lymph is completely compromised, there's a couple of symptoms to look out for.
**Unknown:** Number one is you don't sweat anymore. If anything, you go to the gym and you glisten. I used to do that. I used to think it was great, but what I didn't realize is that my lymph didn't work.
**Unknown:** You also might have, uh, water retention. You might have water retention when you fly. You might have varicose veins. You might have cold hands and feet.
**Unknown:** As a female, you might have dense breasts or fibrocystic breasts. You might have neck pain all the time, but when you press on your neck, a lot of-- you feel, like, lumpy almost. Those are all signs that you actually have a compromised lymphatic system. So that is a key, key, key system that has to be looked at in psoriasis and other types of skin conditions because you're trying to fix the skin topical, topical, topical, but in reality, it's internal.
**Unknown:** It's always internal. So don't ever think that, like, you're excluded from that. There is always something happening internally. It's an immune system issue.
**Unknown:** It's not a skin issue. It's an immune system issue. So the other big one too is that there are very specific types of infections that can be associated with psoriasis. So really first and foremost is when we kinda, like, get into the nitty-gritty of some of the things that we already talked about.
**Unknown:** So number one, saying that, okay, skin conditions can start in the womb. In studies, this is not my opinion, in studies they have done, they have actually found up to a hundred and seventy-two chemicals in the fluid that your baby grows in, that your bo- that your baby develops in. So I hate to tell all of you guys, but we were all born toxic. It's just unfortunate that that's the reality of it, but we're, we've all been born toxic to some capacity, and our children have been born toxic to some capacity.
**Unknown:** When I do testing with my patients, and we find things like mercury, and they're like, "I don't understand. How do I have mercury? I don't even eat fish. I have no fillings in my teeth." And I'm like, "You were probably born with it." And they're like, "What?" So mercury has been used for hundreds of years.
**Unknown:** And one of the craziest things that I did not know up until a few years ago is that mercury being one of the most common chemicals that is found within the body that's an immune system stressor is mercury. So with mercury, they actually took, uh, top hats that everybody used to wear in the late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds, and they would dip them in mercury to weatherproof them. So when it was hot out, the mercury would turn into, um, liquid, and it would drip and absorb into the skin, and that's where the term the Mad Hatter came from, is that when it would absorb, if this person started to have neurological stress, it actually was due to the absorption of the mercury, and they actually termed it the Mad Hatter syndrome. So that is not just a random saying.
**Unknown:** There's a reason for it. So there can definitely be issues, literally chemicals that children are exposed to that make them more susceptible to the development of conditions like psoriasis and also other autoimmune conditions. So some of the biggest things that have been found in amniotic fluid is literally chemicals from cigarettes, if they smoked or they didn't, different types of, like, formaldehyde, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics, the list goes on. There's so many different things that are trapped in all of our bodies, and this is one of the biggest reasons why we have inflammation, and we have inflammatory conditions like joint pain, brain fog, knee problems.
**Unknown:** Like, most of your issues are coming from inflammation.And especially if you weigh yourself and you fluctuate anywhere between like two, three, or even more pounds per day, that is inflammation. That is not fat tissue. So a really interesting story in relation to a patient that I had that I worked with that had psoriasis. So he was a 35-year-old male, had psoriasis for, I think it's psoriasis for about eight years, but it was just progressing and getting worse and worse and worse.
**Unknown:** And when we went through his consultation and I was asking a ton of questions, one of the things that came up was that the psoriasis really started after he got into, he got into a fight actually, and he was bit by a human. And he went to the hospital and he, they were, his girlfriend mainly was fearful that he potentially contracted, you know, a serious virus like HIV. So they precautionary wise did a DTAP, so a tetanus shot, and then they also did a retroviral treatment. So retroviruses are immunosuppressive viruses.
**Unknown:** So retroviruses, one of the most well-known is HIV, and then there are tons of other types of retroviruses. So he pretty much said that his body was never the same after he did those therapies. And it was shortly after that the psoriasis came on. So interesting enough, the specific retrovirus drug is called Retrovir.
**Unknown:** And some of the really specific things associated with Retrovir are actually, it destroys your immune system is really what it comes down to. It compromises your lymphatic system, also known as your lymphocytes. It compromises your neutrophils, which help you to fight bacteria. It also compromises your liver.
**Unknown:** In addition to that, it also compromises fat distribution in your body. So it causes fatty buildup around certain organs. So the more visceral fat, AKA fat around your organs that you have, the more issues that you have with blood sugar, the more issues you have with your immune system. And then eventually you end up with autoimmune type conditions.
**Unknown:** So the drug is a very interesting drug because you have to consider is like, do the pros outweigh the cons, vice versa? So with that being said, when we actually dug deeper into his analysis, it really turned out that most of his filtration pathways, his kidney, his liver, and his lymphatic system were completely compromised. And this was one of the reasons why his immune system was so compromised in addition to now the development of this autoimmune skin condition, psoriasis. So it wasn't one thing, but that drug was a huge stressor that was a catalyst to him having the development of this condition.
**Unknown:** So some of the other components too is the DTAP vaccine. So first of all, when you get tetanus, they don't give tetanus anymore. They only give DTAP, which is a combination vaccine of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, also known as whooping cough. So you are getting various viruses in one shot.
**Unknown:** But the other factor to consider, and this is something that I actually screenshotted from the package insert of this vaccine, is that there are high levels of aluminum phosphate, formaldehyde, and it's also the substrate that it's made on, which I'll explain in just a minute, is cow, cow cells. So when you guys get a vaccine, they take that virus and they have to inject the virus into some type of cell. And sometimes that cell is aborted fetal cells, AKA human DNA. Sometimes it is cow fetal cells.
**Unknown:** Sometimes it is pork. Sometimes it is monkey. Sometimes it is chicken. It really varies on the type of vaccine and type of virus.
**Unknown:** So I think the point that I want to say about that is that you are being injected with foreign DNA, and that foreign DNA is sometimes a catalyst to creating different types of autoimmune responses as well. So obviously vaccines serve their time and place, but when somebody's body is already compromised, sometimes that that can be a further stressor opposed to being a benefit. So it's really all about timing, I think is what's the biggest or most important thing to take away about that. So another big thing too is when it comes to some of the other side effects when it comes to certain types of vaccines, one of the biggest side effects for the DTAP is actually in relation to progressive neurologic disorders.
**Unknown:** And these neurological disorders come from the effect that the vaccine can have on the central nervous system. So tetanus, just so you know, is neurotoxic, which is one of the reasons why you obviously want to become immune to it. But again, at the opportune time, if the immune system is already compromised, sometimes that virus goes into the body and creates more stress opposed to creating immunity. So another big myth when it comes to these skin conditions is really all about the exposures that you can have very, very early on.
**Unknown:** And for those of you that have been listening the whole time, one of the biggest things that I said earlier is that if you are a C-section versus a natural birth, that is going to literally dictate your skin bacteria as well as your internal bacteria right out of the gate. So when you don't have enough of the good bacteria, and maybe that's because of a lot of childhood antibiotics, or maybe it's because you were a C-section, a lack of all of that good bacteria makes you way more susceptible to the bad bacteria.And it's really not even just bacteria, but you become more susceptible to other types of infections, including viruses. So one of the biggest infections that is known to be the great imitator of psoriasis is called Treponema pallidum, also known as syphilis. So don't freak out, everyone.
**Unknown:** So I know that syphilis is definitely something that, first of all, people think, "Oh my gosh, hasn't that pretty much been eradicated?" number one. Number two is, "Isn't that a sexually transmitted disease? I've never had a sexually transmitted disease," like that can't be it. So when you actually look at the epidemiology of syphilis, and you actually look at Lyme disease, and you compare them, they actually are very similar.
**Unknown:** So both of these infections, Lyme disease and syphilis, are actually both classified as spirochete infections. So these spirochete infections can come from any type of vector, mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, anything that bites, spiders. It can be sexually transmitted, it can also be passed from mom to baby. So when someone comes to me, and they say, "Oh, I have tons of joint problems, and I also have psoriasis," or they have psoriasis only over their joints, that is super common.
**Unknown:** Most people that come to me with either eczema or psoriasis, it's over their joints. If you have it over your joints, there's a high probability that it's being caused either by syphilis or being caused by Lyme. Again, this does not have to be a sexually transmitted disease. This is something that you can have exposure in a variety of different ways.
**Unknown:** But I will tell you, your doctors are not screening you for this regularly. And they're-- it's also very, very hard to find through conventional testing, so you have to use very specialized testing to find this and to really decipher, is it part of the problem? Another thing that is also a very common denominator with psoriasis is herpes. And I-- when you-- when I say herpes simplex, that's also the virus that's associated with cold sores.
**Unknown:** So when you look at somebody who has a severe cold sore, it is a scabby patch. It sometimes resembles what a psoriasis, psoriasis patch can look like. So if someone has the herpes simplex virus that has become systemic, and maybe it's trapped in their lymph nodes, and it's pushing out through the skin, there is a high probability that they can also be manifesting this condition, psoriasis. So you always have to be screened for infectious diseases when you are dealing with psoriasis and other types of skin conditions 'cause chances are this is coming from the inside out, and it is also stemming from the lymphatic system not being able to work properly and eradicate these infections out of the body.
**Unknown:** Another big thing, too, is when we go back to this idea of the body's filtration systems that need to work properly. But your body also has a ton of filtration systems because if one gets compromised, then the others will work harder. The problem comes in when all of the filtration systems are starting to become compromised. So when you have a compromised liver, you might have right-sided ribcage pain.
**Unknown:** You might have trouble digesting fats, including dairy. You might have cramping when you run on your right side. You might have constipation. You might also have, uh, yellow coloring of your eyes or your skin.
**Unknown:** You might have aging spots. If you have compromised kidneys, you might have reoccurring urinary tract infections. You might have kidney stones. You might have gout.
**Unknown:** You might even have joint pain. And then if you have a compromised lymphatic system, you might have swelling. You might have water retention. You might not sweat properly.
**Unknown:** You might get headaches. You might have neck pain. These are all symptoms that I know so many of you are probably dealing with to some capacity. But it's not that you have to do all of these crazy things to get your body back on track or to eradicate your psoriasis.
**Unknown:** Sometimes it's really just about cleaning up these, these filtration systems and getting your body's ability to filter to work again. And this is, again, something that is being completely overlooked in the event of these autoimmune conditions, psoriasis being a big one. Another big component to this is the tonsils. If you are a person who has had your tonsils removed, maybe you've had tons of tonsil issues, you've had tonsil stones, you have bad breath, these are all signs that your tonsils are ridden with abnormal bacteria.
**Unknown:** And your tonsils are a key component to understanding the health of your immune system. If you have compromised tonsils, chances are you have a compromised immune system. In addition to that, you have a compromised ability for your brain to detox. So the tonsils are a key thing to un-- to really understanding the health of your immune system.
**Unknown:** And that is definitely something that can give you insight is, is my immune system healthy? Are my filtration systems working properly? And is that part of the puzzle for my psoriasis? Another thing, too, when it comes to all of these components is really just understanding the antibiotics and how this plays a role is that your skin has to be equipped to protect itself by having bacteria.
**Unknown:** And it's really not even just about antibiotics. Uh, for those of you that work in environments like a hospital, and you constantly have to be sanitizing, sanitizing, sanitizingYou are using, first of all, sanitizers that are hormone disruptors. There is an ingredient that is in these hand sanitizers called triclosan. Triclosan is a hormone disruptor.
**Unknown:** In addition to that, you're constantly cleansing and you're not wiping out bad bacteria, you're also wiping out good bacteria. So the less and less good bacteria you have on your skin, the more susceptible you are to the bad bacteria. And we're exposed to bad bacteria all the time, but it's not that we should live in fear of it. We really just have to understand that it is about if you don't have the protective stuff, you are way more susceptible to the bad infections.
**Unknown:** So we need to stop living in fear of bacteria. We need to stop using these insane cleaners in our homes and literally dousing everything with bleach and using hand sanitizer every five minutes. We need to understand that we need to get dirty. We need to play in the dirt.
**Unknown:** We need to not be these germaphobes because it's the constant sanitizing that is actually creating more superbugs. And this is what's creating different types of strep and staph and infections that are completely antibiotic resistant. So it's a matter of trying to go back to the roots and let your kids play in the dirt and let them be able to have those exposures because it actually builds their immune system in a healthy way. So one of the components that I mentioned already that we cannot overlook emotional components when it comes to autoimmune conditions as a whole, but in addition, specifically psoriasis.
**Unknown:** So again, there is a lot of interpretation for this, but feeling comfortable in your own skin and feeling comfortable in your own skin can be because someone has talked down to you in your past or someone had high expectations on you that you never felt like you could meet. Or it has to do with your own self-talk of never feeling like you're good enough or feeling ashamed of certain things. So there is definitely a dynamic that can cause the symptoms to persist despite all of your efforts of taking supplements, changing your diet, taking certain prescriptions, et cetera. So we really have to consider, you know, how do we talk to ourselves?
**Unknown:** What are the thoughts that we think every day? Because these are, this is not a woo-woo. This is not like, oh, this doesn't even matter. That can't possibly be playing a role because we all know that stress has a negative impact on our bodies.
**Unknown:** But I think that we have underestimated for many, many years how much that can actually play a role in creating physical symptoms. So it's time for us to understand that we are a whole. And just because you can handle stress does not mean that your body doesn't internalize that in a different way. We all pretty much say, you know, oh yeah, I have stress, but I can handle it.
**Unknown:** Oh, that's just life. You know, you just power through. And yeah, I get it. You could be strong mentally, but you can stuff it down.
**Unknown:** It's going to go somewhere. And it is definitely going to create dysfunction in your body and in your tissues because there's no possible way that you just sweep it under the rug or stuff it down or just take it in. That's going to affect you in some way or another. And unfortunately, we will do all of these things.
**Unknown:** We'll do, we'll take the supplements, we'll change the diet, we'll exercise, we'll do all these things. But the last thing that we think about is our stress levels, our schedule, our running ourselves ragged, our three-hour commute. We ignore those pieces. And we say, I'm going to change all the rest, but I don't have time for that.
**Unknown:** Or that can't be part of the puzzle. It's interesting because we did a podcast not too long ago and it was called Screw It, Just Eat Pizza to Be Healthy. And one of the reasons we did that podcast is because it was really shedding light on the fact that it wasn't even just my own experience, but so many other physicians that I talk to and we all come to the same realization is that we do all of these things to help people get their lives on track. We talk about eliminating certain foods and changing their diet and taking supplements and exercising.
**Unknown:** And then we realize that there's just like the one elephant in the room and the elephant in the room is always where are they at emotionally and where are they at with their stress levels. And that is something that so many people just are like, no, no, I'm going to do all these great things for my body, but I'm not going to change that because I can't right now. I can't be bothered with it because my job is demanding or I have to provide for my family. It's really trying to understand that it's all about a balance.
**Unknown:** It's all about understanding all of the different aspects. And it's not about completely changing your life, but it's at least being able to have some strategies and some tools. So overall, if you haven't realized at this point in time is that psoriasis is not just a skin condition. This is not just about, oh, you just have a skin condition and that's the end of the story.
**Unknown:** If you just take this immunosuppressant, we're going to radically get rid of it. A lot of people are seeing some results with those immunosuppressants, which are the traditional therapies. And then there's a lot of people that are not seeing any changes at all. Or they take the immunosuppressants and then they say, I'm feeling better.
**Unknown:** I want to come off of it. And then they try to come off of it and they have a flare. And then they're like, oh no, I have to rely on the medication. So when you really think about what's happening here is that it's an immune system problem.
**Unknown:** That's why it's classified as an autoimmune condition. So if you have an auto or if you have an immune system issue or an overfiring immune systemAn over-firing immune system creates an inflammatory process. Inflammation makes you feel crappy. It makes your joints hurt.
**Unknown:** It makes your skin worse. It makes your brain fog come back. It makes you, uh, feel fatigued. It, it messes up your sleep.
**Unknown:** But an immune system issue is always going to be coincided with an inflammatory issue. That's the way that the body works. So when you take the immunosuppressant, you're going to calm down the immune system, and in turn you're shutting off the inflam-- what you're also doing is you're compromising your immune system, which opens you up to viruses, infectious disease, bacteria, and it's gonna open you up to a whole other slew of problems. So we need to start thinking, "Okay, is this really going to be my master solution, or is this just putting my symptoms at bay and creating a boatload of other issues that are gonna creep up later down the line?" 'Cause most of the people that I work with that have been on those immunosuppressants, they are the ones that come to me later down the line with neurological decline, early onset Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, et cetera.
**Unknown:** And guess what? There's more immunosuppressants for those conditions as well. These are conditions that they're all a result of something, and it's a matter of digging deeper and asking better questions and getting better testing to decipher what those actually are. So when we really comes down to these skin issues, it's really just we need to get away from this idea of this is about bad genes and bad luck because yes, of course, you could always have a genetic predisposition.
**Unknown:** You can have your immune system be a vulnerable part of your body. You can have your skin be a vulnerable part of your body. But it is always going to take various factors that will allow your genes to express differently. So what I mean by that is if you have a boatload of toxicity or you have a lot of stress or you have infections, if you have gut issues, you have all of those things compounding your genetic predispositions, that is going to bring those things to the surface.
**Unknown:** Just because you have a gene does not mean that you are doomed to get that condition, and just because it runs in your family also doesn't mean that. There are so many things that you could do to prevent that and completely eradicate the, um, possibility of that gene expressing that disease. And I think that that's an important thing that people don't realize is that we feel doomed to our family history and to our genetics, and there is-- that is not your fate, and it is not going to dictate your health. So we need to get away from just sitting back and thinking like, "Oh, I'm just kind of, like, waiting for that diagnosis because, you know, everybody else in my family has it." There's always, always, always a reason.
**Unknown:** So in addition to that, you know, when it comes to this idea of like, okay, what do you even do to figure out, you know, where the psoriasis is coming from? Like, what type of testing does that entail? So the testing that it entails is really looking at the whole body. It's not about just being like, "Okay, we're gonna test for the root cause of the psoriasis." We need to look at every single system and how it's all working together, and we need to look at the immune system.
**Unknown:** We need to look at the gut. We need to look at the neurological system, and we also need to ask better questions as to was there any specific things that were happening at the time that these symptoms came on. So when we do our testing, we are literally looking at the DNA. We're looking at the energetic system.
**Unknown:** We're looking at toxicity. We're looking at infections. We're testing for infections like Lyme and syphilis, um, which can definitely be a contributing factor to psoriasis. But you have to-- It's not just about your testing.
**Unknown:** It's also about asking better questions, and that's really one of the things that I have been learning and, and evolving over time is it's always about the consultation. So when it comes to conventional medicine, you are not getting time. You don't get time with your doctor. They give you five minutes, ten minutes max.
**Unknown:** So when we really opted to do what we do, we opted to spend more time so that we can dig. We can ask better questions. We can understand your health history. We can look at the timeline, and in addition, we can do better testing.
**Unknown:** So that's really the difference to understand about conventional to functional medicine to even what we do, which is called integrative. So your conventional medicine is you don't get any time. You don't have-- Nobody's asking you better questions. They-- And, and it's not their fault.
**Unknown:** It's dictated by the insurance companies, just so you understand. So it's literally the insurance companies say, "You're only gonna get paid for this time slot, and you need to meet X amount of patients per week for you to get paid what you need to get paid." So the insurance companies dr-- uh, call the shots, so you get limited time, and I've had many people that have come up to me, different nurse practitioners and PAs that have said, "I love what you're doing. I wish I could. I only ha-- I have like two minutes with my patient, and I barely can ask them what they ate that day.
**Unknown:** So it's impossible for me to give nutritional advice." And when you start to want to help people in a bigger way, unfortunately, as a physician, you have to step outside of that insurance model, and you have to step outside and be classified as out-of-network so that you can spend the time, do the better testing to actually figure out what the heck is going on. When pe-- when it comes to investing in your own health, most people think that that's a foreign concept or they wanna always stick within their insurance. I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna keep you on the merry-go-round of not knowing what the heck is wrong with you, not feeling hopeless 'cause you don't feel like you're getting any solutions, or your only solution is really coming down to a pill or an injection.So if you want more, and you wanna understand what's going on, and you wanna have solutions, and you wanna be in the driver's seat 'cause you wanna know, "What can I do? What can I eat?
**Unknown:** What supplements can I take?" Then it's really a matter of knowing what the heck is the actual root cause. So one of the questions from Gabrielle is, "What are some of the ways that we can encourage lymph flow in the body?" So first and foremost is the easiest thing you guys can do at home is dry brushing. If you wanna understand what dry brushing is, uh, go to our YouTube Integrative Wellness group and type in dry brushing, and it will give you an example of how to do it. A dry brush is like ten dollars on Amazon.
**Unknown:** But also one of the biggest things that is super, super beneficial for your lymph is, uh, infrared sauna. Infrared sauna is definitely one of the biggest game changers I've seen in patients that have psoriasis. Um, and what that-- it's very different than a regular sauna, just so you guys understand. Uh, infrared sauna is something that heats you from the inside out, so it is actually mimicking a fever, and it's helping you to burn off what is in the lymphatic system.
**Unknown:** So it helps your immune system and your body overall but is very, very good for skin conditions. Another thing that you could do at home is, uh, rebounding. Uh, it's literally a mini trampoline. You can jump up and down.
**Unknown:** That's definitely really, really helpful as well. But I will tell you this, guys, um, is that I definitely always want it to be super simple for patients. I, I really hope that you can do dry brushing, and you can pretty much solve all of your problems and fix your psoriasis. But one thing that I think is important to know is that it's sometimes about strategy because I have some people that come to me, and they say, "I've already done infrared saunas, and it didn't work.
**Unknown:** I already did dry brushing, and it didn't work." And what I help them to understand is that it doesn't mean that those therapies were bad, or they didn't work. But sometimes they were not used strategically. So, like, I'll give you guys a really basic example. So if, say, you come in, and you have psoriasis, and we find out that your liver, your lymphatic system, and your kidneys are all compromised because those are your three big filters.
**Unknown:** So if you come into my office, and I, I have a, um, a therapy called bioresonance, and the bioresonance, I can work on your lymph nodes, and I can help them drain better. So if I work on the lymph nodes, and I start to get them to drain better, what can happen is that starts to bring a lot of things to the surface. So if that all comes to the surface, then we need to make sure that your body can get rid of it and deal with it. So if you have a lymphatic issue, then what we would do is we would actually help your body use things in conjunction with each other.
**Unknown:** So very often, when somebody has a bad lymphatic system, bad liver and kidneys, is that they're taking supplements to support the liver, then they will do, um, their infrared sauna and do a detoxification foot bath because the sauna helps the lymph. The detoxification foot bath actually helps the kidneys. So literally, you're helping everything to work together, which I think I'm answering your question, Elena. You're helping everything to work together so that you're not, like, detoxing to retox.
**Unknown:** So if you've done a detox before, and you got headaches, and you felt tired, and you felt sick, that's because you were bringing a bunch of crap to the surface, but your body couldn't get rid of it. So you have to understand it's about strategy. It's not about doing one thing. That's why we do what we do now, and that's why we're an integrative practice is because we're gonna fuse things together that are gonna complement each other.
**Unknown:** And another big one that's really, really often missed is scars. One of the biggest things with our psoriasis patients that we end up working on that screws up their lymphatic flow is scars and especially women that have had C-sections. So we end up working on different areas of scar tissue, and we get the scar tissue broken down, and then that allows the lymph to work again and allows the drainage to work again, which then helps the skin issues. Again, these are not things that you guys are thinking about, you understand.
**Unknown:** These are not things that a lot of doctors even know about. But we have learned these things over time, and we test for them now. So I literally had a girl the other day that she has all of these rashes all over her body, and, uh, one of the biggest things that she tested for was doing scar release. And I was like, "Do you have scars?" And she literally, like, lifted up her shirt and showed me her back, and she had, like, fifteen scars all over.
**Unknown:** And I was like, "This is part of your immune reactions is the amount of scars and scar tissue you have." So, and her mom's like, "Oh my gosh, like, I never even thought about that." So with that being said, but, um, overall, I hope this was a ton of value to you guys. Um, psoriasis is definitely something that I know affects people mentally, emotionally, physically. Like, I know it's uncomfortable, let alone just psychologically just really overwhelming because, you know, you're just super hyper conscious of, of the way that you look and, and feel. So when it comes to being able to have a solution and finally understand how to work with this and get that clarity, you know, it's just-- it's so significant for people.
**Unknown:** Um, this is definitely one of the reasons why I do these in the first place 'cause I think there's just so much confusion around these conditions, and it's just like, "Oh, you have an autoimmune condition. It probably runs in your family," and, "Oh, it's genetic," and end of story when there's so many other possibilities, and with all of those possibilities, there's so many things that can be done to help it. So, um, so I hope you guys really gained a lot of good information, and, uh, we're gonna be talking more about skin conditions as we go through the rest of the month. Vitiligo is one of the ones that we're gonna be talking about next.
**Unknown:** So if you know anyone with vitiligo that you want to share with, that would be awesome. If you are following along for the rest of the month, we're gonna be, uh, again, continuing the conversation. Okay, guys, I will see you next week. If you have any questions...
**Unknown:** I always forget to do this, but if you go to our site and you wanna set up a strategy call, we do strategy calls completely for free. So you can hop on a call with our team, and you can talk a little bit more through about what's going on with you, what are your expectations, like, what type-- what are you looking for from a healthcare experience, and they can really help you understand more of the logistics about our onboarding process and all that good stuff. So if you go to our site, there are tons of links everywhere for you to set up that strategy call. One of the links is under the Get Started page.
**Unknown:** So definitely check that out, and we hope to hear from you soon. We thank you for being a listener and subscriber to Integrative Wellness Radio. If you're looking to learn more about Integrative Wellness Group as well as Dr. Nick or Dr.
**Unknown:** Nicole, you can check out integrativewellnessgroup.com. All night, no sleep 'cause I feel like I'm always dreaming. Wide awake, that's okay.
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Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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