Your doctor was probably trained to spot red patches. But what if yours are purple?
For one million Canadians living with psoriasis—a skin condition that causes inflamed, scaly flare-ups that can itch, crack, and bleed— it’s a daily reality that can influence how quickly they’re diagnosed and how effectively they’re treated.
This chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin condition that’s supposed to be “easy to spot” becomes harder to see when it appears on darker skin—those angry red plaques from medical textbooks may show up as violet, grey, or brown.
While medicine has made remarkable advances in treating this inflammatory skin disease, people of colour may still encounter challenges in diagnosis and treatment because the medical system has largely been built around lighter skin tones.
“The appearance of the condition may not be as immediately recognizable due to the colour variations in plaques, inflammation, and pigmentation,” explains Dr. Marissa Joseph, a leading dermatologist and one of the authors of the 2024 Canadian Skin of Colour Consensus paper.
“Visibility of inflammation can be reduced on pigmented skin, which might cause a delay in diagnosis and treatment initiation. In addition, post-inflammatory pigmentation changes—where skin darkens or lightens after inflammation—can also mask underlying psoriasis symptoms entirely.”
