Psoriasis is relentless. The silvery scales, the red patches, the cracking that can split open and bleed—it's a condition that demands constant management and rarely offers rest. If you're living with it, you've likely tried countless treatments, from prescription medications to home remedies passed down through generations.
You've probably also learned to approach every new "solution" with healthy skepticism. Psoriasis sufferers have heard too many promises that didn't deliver.
I won't make promises I can't keep. MSM isn't a cure for psoriasis. Nothing topical can resolve a condition driven by immune system dysfunction. But MSM can offer meaningful support for psoriatic skin—calming inflammation, supporting barrier repair, and providing relief without the triggers that make so many products problematic for already-stressed skin.
What Psoriasis Actually Is
Understanding how MSM can help requires understanding what's happening in psoriatic skin.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition. Your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells, triggering an inflammatory response that accelerates skin cell production. Normal skin cells take about a month to mature and shed. In psoriatic skin, this process happens in just a few days.
The result: cells pile up on the surface faster than they can shed, creating the characteristic thick, scaly patches. The underlying inflammation causes redness, heat, and sometimes pain. And the rapid cell turnover compromises the skin barrier, leading to dryness, cracking, and vulnerability to irritants.
It's a complex cascade, and addressing it requires attention at multiple levels: calming the inflammation, supporting the barrier, and providing the raw materials skin needs for healthier function.
MSM's Role in Psoriasis Support
MSM brings several relevant properties to psoriasis management.
Anti-Inflammatory Support: Chronic inflammation drives psoriasis progression and symptom severity. MSM has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties in research, helping modulate the overactive immune response that characterizes the condition.
This isn't the same as immunosuppressive medications, which dampen the entire immune system. MSM supports more balanced inflammatory signaling, potentially helping keep flares from escalating without compromising overall immune function.
Sulfur for Skin Structure: The rapid cell turnover in psoriasis creates constant demand for the building blocks of skin—including sulfur. Your body uses sulfur to produce keratin, the protein that forms the bulk of your skin's outer layer.
When skin is turning over as fast as psoriatic skin does, sulfur demands increase. MSM provides bioavailable sulfur directly to the skin, supporting the production of healthier, more functional keratin.
Barrier Support: Psoriatic skin has a chronically compromised barrier. The rapid turnover doesn't allow cells to mature properly, and the constant inflammation damages barrier integrity. MSM supports barrier repair by providing the raw materials for keratin and other structural proteins.
The Challenge of Finding Psoriasis-Safe Products
If you have psoriasis, you know that most skincare products aren't formulated with your needs in mind.
Heavy fragrances can irritate already-sensitive plaques. Alcohol-based formulations dry out skin that's already struggling with moisture retention. Aggressive actives like strong AHAs or retinoids can trigger flares in vulnerable areas.
Even products marketed for "sensitive skin" often contain ingredients that psoriatic skin can't tolerate. One customer shared their frustration: finding products that don't make things worse feels like an impossible task when you're dealing with a condition this reactive.
MSM, by contrast, has a gentle profile. It doesn't contain common irritants. It works through support and supply rather than aggressive chemical action. For skin that reacts to seemingly everything, this matters.
Combining MSM with Goat Milk
Our formulations pair MSM with fresh goat milk—a combination that offers specific benefits for psoriatic skin.
Goat milk contains natural lactic acid, one of the gentler alpha hydroxy acids. For psoriasis sufferers, this provides very mild exfoliation that can help with the buildup of scales without the aggressive action that triggers inflammation.
The pH of goat milk closely matches human skin, which is important for maintaining the acid mantle—your skin's first line of defense against pathogens and irritants. Psoriatic skin already has barrier dysfunction; products that further disrupt pH only compound the problem.
Goat milk's natural fats provide emollient support, helping with the dryness and cracking that characterize psoriatic plaques. And its small fat molecules support absorption, helping MSM reach the layers where it can do the most good.
What the Research Shows
Scientific research on MSM specifically for psoriasis is limited but suggestive. More broadly, studies have demonstrated MSM's anti-inflammatory effects, its role in supporting collagen and keratin synthesis, and its ability to improve skin hydration and texture.
Research on sulfur for psoriasis has a longer history. Sulfur-containing treatments have been used for psoriasis for centuries, with historical records documenting sulfur baths and topical sulfur preparations as traditional remedies.
Modern understanding of why sulfur helps has advanced beyond these traditional approaches. We now know that providing bioavailable sulfur—like that found in MSM—supports the body's own repair mechanisms rather than simply treating symptoms on the surface.
Managing Expectations
I want to be clear about what MSM can and cannot do for psoriasis.
MSM cannot cure psoriasis. It cannot replace medical treatment for severe cases. If you're dealing with extensive plaques, joint involvement (psoriatic arthritis), or skin that's cracking and bleeding, please work with a healthcare provider. Psoriasis can be a serious condition requiring serious intervention.
What MSM can do is provide supportive care that helps manage symptoms and supports skin health between flares. For many psoriasis sufferers, finding products that don't trigger worsening—and that actively support improvement—represents significant progress in daily quality of life.
Our Active Cream and Muscle Cream both contain MSM alongside other supportive ingredients. The Muscle Cream, in particular, can provide relief for psoriatic plaques that occur in areas stressed by physical activity.
The Athletic Connection
Our family's athletic background—four college athletes, including two Division I NCAA competitors—shaped how we think about skincare for challenging conditions.
Athletes with psoriasis face particular challenges. Sweat can irritate plaques. Friction from clothing and equipment can trigger flares. And the physical stress of training can actually worsen psoriasis, as stress is a known trigger for the condition.
Developing products that support recovery without irritating psoriatic skin was important to us. Our Muscle Cream and Active Cream are formulated for post-workout application, when skin is most vulnerable—and for some users, when psoriasis symptoms are most likely to flare.
A Supportive Approach
Living with psoriasis requires accepting that management, not cure, is the realistic goal. It means learning your triggers, adapting your routines, and finding products that support rather than sabotage your skin.
MSM fits into that management approach. It's not a dramatic intervention. It's ongoing, daily support that helps your skin function better within the constraints of the condition.
For skin that's been through as much as psoriatic skin has—the inflammation, the rapid turnover, the cracking and scaling—sometimes what's needed isn't aggressive treatment but gentle, consistent nurturing. Products that provide raw materials. Formulations that don't trigger. Skincare that works with your skin rather than demanding more from it.
That's what we aim to provide from our Washington State farm. Not miracle cures, but genuine support for skin that deserves some kindness.
