Midlands woman ‘Itching to Tell You’ about living with psoriasis condition

Zoe Ryan, who has been advocating on behalf of those living with psoriasis for a number of years, has filmed a documentary on the subject and set up an awareness platform on Instagram and YouTube entitled, 'Itching To Tell You'.

Psoriasis is described as a chronic long-lasting inflammatory autoimmune condition in which the immune system becomes overactive, causing skin cells to multiply too quickly. It causes a rash with itchy, scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp.

Zoe, from Tullamore, said that genetics can play a part in someone having the disease but that the right combination of genes have to come in contact with an environmental factor (a stressful or traumatic event, injury or damage to the skin, infection, certain medications) in order for psoriasis to be ignited in the body.

“Both I and my father have psoriasis but statistically speaking, if a parent has psoriasis there is a 10% chance their child will also experience it.”

She explained: “Someone can be born with the right set of genes to be predisposed but may never come in contact with one of the necessary environmental factors and therefore never experience psoriasis.”

Zoe (27) was officially diagnosed with the condition when she was 18 years old but her father Denis wasn't diagnosed until he was in his fifties after experiencing alopecia. Psoriasis can occur at any age but commonly first presents during two life stages, the teens or 20s or during the 50-60 age bracket.

The Midlands advocate said that she and her father previously never spoke about having psoriasis but she said that in recent years it has “strengthened” their relationship. “Living with the same chronic condition has its perks. My Dad and I are very fortunate to have something a lot of people living with psoriasis do not, someone who understands to talk to, confide in and share tips and tricks with.

“Nowadays, we talk very openly about our condition, compare patches, recommend products we have found useful to each other and work together to spread awareness. Daddy often assists me with my research, providing me with a male perspective on living with the condition and is always on hand to help me out with testing products,” stated Zoe.

“For a long time we felt alone in our condition and that we couldn't talk to each other about it, but now we're very open and honest about it.”

As part of Zoe's studies for a Master's in Radio and Television Broadcast Production in Dun Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology (IADT), she filmed a documentary about psoriasis and her search for a cure entitled 'Searching for a Cure.'

She interviewed her dad along with other people who who have psoriasis and those who treat the condition. She said that at the time she was obsessed with looking into alternative treatments for the condition.

“I decided to convince the board that it was a great idea to let me go on trips around the country trying out all these alternative routes to medicine and to bring a film crew with me along to record it.”

Zoe added that interviewing her dad was a “turning point” for her because they had never spoken about their psoriasis. “I obviously went into it expecting to find a cure and I was hoping I would.”

Zoe said that she realised that there wasn't a cure for the condition and was convinced of that after trying five or six different treatments without much positive results.

“Up until that stage I never listened to my condition. I used to throw any product or treatment that people told me was in some way good for psoriasis and I feel like I only ever gave them a very short kind of time to work in.”

She said that she went into the documentary “still chasing the elusive cure” because at that stage she hadn't yet accepted that psoriasis was incurable.

Zoe tried out different treatments such as seaweed therapy, salt water therapy, visited seventh son faith healer Joe Gallagher from Pullough and the seven blessed wells of Killeigh.

The former Sacred Heart Secondary School student said that when she was first diagnosed with psoriasis, she had never heard of the condition and so she felt the need to hide its visual symptoms for many years.

“I think because I was acutely aware that people didn't really understand the condition and they didn't know about it, I felt the need to hide the visual symptoms of it because I was afraid it would be misunderstood and misinterpreted.”

Zoe believes that she didn't allow herself to come to terms with having psoriasis following her diagnosis. “My way of coping with it was by suppressing it and by kind of not thinking about it as much as I could.”

Zoe set up an awareness platform called ‘Itching To Tell You’ on both Instagram and YouTube in 2020 because she felt that people with psoriasis weren't being given the best information from medical professionals to understand and treat their condition.

She decided to create her own awareness platform to provide a space for those with psoriasis to find helpful resources.

The Offaly woman recently recorded four episodes of a new series for YouTube that will be released later this year.

Speaking about the symptoms of psoriasis, Zoe said that she experiences dry patches on her arms and legs, a raw redness on her thigh, athlete's foot and red skin between her toes along with psoriasis of the scalp.

“Over the years I've experienced hair loss and thinning as a result of the plaque being so thick on my scalp the hair could not grow through it and the damage caused from picking and from the products and techniques used to manage the condition.”

Zoe has another autoimmune disease, Raynaud's Disease which means that arteries in the hands and feet can contract and narrow leading to extremities of hot and cold in the body.

She explained that when she experiences a Raynaud's attack, she loses all feeling in her hands and feet.

“The knock on effect is that the heat in my hands and feet isn't regulated so on a daily basis my hands and feet could be freezing, but I wouldn't notice it.”

For more information follow 'Itching To Tell You' on Instagram and YouTube.

Zoe is the daughter of Theresa Ryan from Tullamore and Denis Ryan from Daingean. She currently works as a Streaming Coordinator for GAA Go in RTÉ and lives in Tullamore.