Psoriasis is an autoimmune inflammatory skin disorder first described by Ferdinand von Hebra in 1841. In psoriasis skin cells replicate at a faster rate than usual, with new skin cells produced about eight times faster than normal. This causes skin cells to build up on the skin's surface, forming patches of scaling flakes. About 10 to 30 percent of people with psoriasis can also develop a related condition of arthritis known as psoriatic arthritis. Psoriasis ranges from a mild rash or itching affecting a small area of the skin surface to a condition causing widespread itching, pain, and pustules affecting nearly all areas of the body.

There are five basic types of psoriasis, with plaque psoriasis being the most common type. About 80 percent of people with psoriasis have plaque psoriasis, which is characterized by patches of raised, reddish skin covered by a silvery-white scale. Lesions in plaque psoriasis can occur anywhere on the body although they are most commonly found on the elbows, knees, umbilicus, lower back, and scalp. Plaque psoriasis may initially manifest as gutttate psoriasis, and all forms of psoriasis may eventually progress to erythrodermic psoriasis affecting the entire body surface.

The other types of psoriasis include guttate psoriasis, which causes small, red spots on the skin; pustular psoriasis, which causes white pustules surrounded by red skin, which may merge to form large areas of pus, and its variant psoriasis vulgaris, which causes small sterile pustules; inverse psoriasis, which causes smooth red lesions in the folds of the skin; and erythrodermic psoriasis, which causes widespread redness, severe itching, and pain. All types of psoriasis generally cause lifelong conditions with periods of remission alternating with periods in which there are flares. Psoriatic diaper rash appears to be the most common type of psoriasis in children under the age of two years. Localized forms of psoriasis include acrodermatitis continua suppurativa or Hallopeau's disease. Besides the skin, the fingernails, toenails, and the soft tissues of the genitals and inside of the mouth may be affected in psoriasis.

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