Benefits Of Borage Oil For Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common disorder that can affect the skin on the body or the scalp.

With this condition, patches of skin become red and irritated, and the patches often result in flaking of the skin. The exact cause of the condition is unknown, but it is believed that heredity is a factor in many cases, and an abnormal reaction from the immune system worsens the condition. New cells form below the surface of the skin and they rise up through the surface on a regular basis.

When a person has psoriasis, the new cells rise too rapidly to the surface, causing a buildup of dead cells. In many people, the immune system mistakenly believes that the skin cells are foreign or harmful, causing an attack by white blood cells. This results in the inflammation and irritation that occurs on these patches.

Borage oil is an effective treatment for psoriasis, and its uses are both external and internal.

Borage oil, which is an extract from seeds of the Borage plant, or starflower, is beneficial in treating psoriasis externally. When rubbed on the skin where the patches occur, the oil offers soothing relief from redness, itching, and discomfort. Because it contains fatty acids, the extract helps to seal in moisture, which causes the soothing response.

It also provides a barrier against some of the triggers that can cause flare ups to worsen, such as exposure to sunlight and dry air. This can be especially effective when combined with other psoriasis treatment ingredients in products like Psoria. >

The oil is also helpful in loosening the dead cells that have built up so that they can be gently scraped off. As the extract softens the patches, exfoliation will remove the excess to some degree. By reducing the size of the patches, called plaques, the amount of discomfort and irritation is often reduced. Regular removal of the patches can prevent the plaques from becoming severely irritated.

Borage oil can help psoriasis from inside the body also.

The extract is one of the most abundant sources of gamma linolenic acid (GLA). GLA is an essential fatty acid that, once absorbed by the body, becomes prostaglandin E1, a hormone-like substance that has anti-inflammatory qualities. In people with several psoriasis types and similar skin disorders, an abnormally low level of GLA often exists in the body.

With the combination of excess skin cells building up and a deficiency in a substance in the body that reduces inflammation, people with low levels of GLA are more prone to severe cases or more frequent outbreaks of the skin disorder.

Because Borage oil produces GLA when ingested, the levels of the substance increase. This improves the body’s ability to reduce inflammation from the immune system’s attack of the psoriasis patches.

As a result, the redness, itching, and irritation that occur with the patches can be lessened considerably. When the extract is taken both internally and also rubbed onto the affected areas of the skin, the benefits are significantly increased, as the condition is being treated both internally and externally, providing considerable relief from symptoms.