# Psoriasis Medical



## MasterYi (18 Aug 2011)

The last topic to cover Psoriasis is more then 5 years old now so i figure i would start a new one.

I've been wanting to join the military for almost 4 years, The only thing that was in my way was finishing highschool which i finally completed last year. However, I read on the forces website that Psoriasis can be a diqualifying factor. So i began searching online a bit to see if anyone has been successful in joining with the condition and i did find someone who has a mild case like myself who got in. I've also read posts from some people on this forum who state they "forgot" or did not bring it up in the medical and were able to join, but i don't feel comfortable lying.

I'm perfectly healthy in all other areas but i worry about this preventing me from joining. I haven't taken medication for it in almost 5 years and my doctor says it only covers 2% of my body (i have it on my legs, back and chest). The website says anything over 18% is considered a functional limitation. I never see a doctor to get treatment for it. I asked my family doctor recently if he thought i would be able to join with psoriasis and he said it's a mild case and i should just try and apply anyway and see how it goes.

I would like to know if this is going to prevent me from joining, even though i know theres only one way to find out. Is mild psoriasis a big deal?


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## medicineman (18 Aug 2011)

Basically it goes by body surface area covered and functional impairment from it, ie posriatic arthritis, etc.  Don't lie about it, you might need a note from your doctor after the medical, but in all likelihood, you won't have any worries.

MM


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## MasterYi (18 Aug 2011)

I also got the disease when i was 8 years old, im 21 now. The website says "onset at or before 15 years of age;" Will this be an issue?


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## medicineman (18 Aug 2011)

Ditto to what I said above...worse case scenario, you have to see a dermatologist.  I've seen oodles of folks in the service with more extensive psoriais than you have.

MM


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## ballz (19 Aug 2011)

MM, just out of curiosity, is it basically the same sort of idea for eczema? I have eczema and I got in, sometimes it gets pretty bad, most of the time not. Last year the doctor was pretty close to sending me to a dermatoligist because I was covered from head to toe but the stronger stuff he gave me managed to clear it up.

But sometimes I do wonder how various climates (specifically jungle terrain) and whatnot might affect it if I were to deploy, since I notice it usually flares up when I switch geographic locations and therefore change of climate, and humidity really seems to be a key factor.


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## medicineman (19 Aug 2011)

Ballz - depends on what other issues you have, as some folks have very allergic personalities and eczema is just one expression of it.  Some people it does change with different locales - sometimes is the water drying your skin out more, sometimes stuff in the air.  The reason you were likely almost sent to the dermatologist is it might have been something else mimicking eczema or it was the worst case the doc had seen and wanted a second opinion to make sure he wasn't losing his mind .

MM


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## Eastcoaster03 (19 Aug 2011)

MasterYi said:
			
		

> The last topic to cover Psoriasis is more then 5 years old now so i figure i would start a new one.
> 
> I've been wanting to join the military for almost 4 years, The only thing that was in my way was finishing highschool which i finally completed last year. However, I read on the forces website that Psoriasis can be a diqualifying factor. So i began searching online a bit to see if anyone has been successful in joining with the condition and i did find someone who has a mild case like myself who got in. I've also read posts from some people on this forum who state they "forgot" or did not bring it up in the medical and were able to join, but i don't feel comfortable lying.
> 
> ...



I have a very mild psoriasis. It was a lot worse when i was younger but it only cover my head under my hair when i was younger (which was a horrible experience). Anyway sometimes I still get minor flare ups such as right now i have a tiny lil patch about the size of a quarter on my head but not a big deal and just a tiny bit on my arms near my elbows but still on my forearm. Anyway I told this to the doctor when doing my medical and he was overly concerned when I gave him the proper details about it (but I also don't take any medication other then a cream once in a while if needed). 

You cannot lie about it because they are going to examine your body so you might as well tell them. The biggest concern for the person that did my medical was that my medical would possibly get kicked back asking for a paper filled out from my doc. He even tried to call Ottawa a few times while I was there to see what they would say but he could not get a hold of anyone so we sent my medical file in anyway and he just said how he thought everything should be okay.

Flash forward around 3 weeks later I called to follow up and see if there were any issues and everything was cleared and approved. Now I'm going to BMOQ in Sept.

So yeah I wouldn't worry too much but when doing your medical I would try and find out as much info as possible just in case you need docs filled out etc.

On a side note, the person that did my interview had told me I shouldn't worry as well because he had worked with people that had the same thing and covered large amounts of their body and they were fine.


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