'Chef's Psoriasis'

A few years ago I went to see a dermatolgist friend about a troublesome rash on my left thumb. Only the left thumb. It came and went, and I had no clue as to why it happened. Sometimes there was an antecedent injury: a burn, a scrape, a cut that would precede the development of the rash. It was painful, like a burn, was raised and hyperkeratotic, a bit red. It would last several days then go away.

He said it was psoriasis, gave me some steroid ointment, and it went away. Until the next time.

One day as I was preparing supper, I was peeling garlic, which I would do by taking an individual clove, knock off the hard "root" part with my thumb, then peel off the skin. As I did this, the root was very hard, with a sharp edge to it, and it cut my thumb. As I went on peeling the garlic, some of the oil got in the cut, and BOY, did it burn! A day or so later I got the rash again.

So it occurred to me, that maybe this was just a contact dermatitis from the garlic oil. I changed my technique, so now I smack the clove with a chef's knife to crack it open, then peel off the skin. If that root is large and hard I will cut it off instead of breaking it off. I also try to routinely wash my hands right after peeling garlic.

And I've not had that "psoriasis" again!