If you follow fashion, festival season is something you probably look forward to all year. In the armor of your cutest outfits, you can use fashion to express yourself in unique ways. And what better venue to show off that aura than a summer stage hosting all your favorite musicians? For lots of people, nothing can stop them from wearing their perfect festival outfit… but if you’re living with plaque psoriasis, that may not be the case.
To get you up to speed, plaque psoriasis is a condition whose main symptom is the appearance of raised, inflamed, scaly patches on the surface of the skin called plaques.¹ This chronic, systemic condition is caused by an overactive immune system leading to inflammation inside the body causing accelerated skin cell growth.¹ Symptoms tend to improve in the warmer months (good news for your festival regalia), but no plaques doesn’t mean no plaque psoriasis: the inflammation causing it can still be present in your body.¹⁻²
And of course, your hot festy summer is no time for flaky, red plaques.¹
1. Planning Your Perfect Festival Look
Picture this: You’ve spent all year poring over festival trend forecasts to curate a sartorial repertoire that matches your dream music lineup — the Y2K pop princess, the raver queen, and the acoustic balladeer all in one weekend. Most of your outfit options happen to show a lot of skin but showing skin with plaque psoriasis means potentially exposing areas where plaques might surface.¹ That “what if my plaques show?” feeling can make you want to cover up… opting for long sleeves in 90 degree heat, swapping crop tops for oversized tees, and loading up your suitcase with “safe” outfits over what you really want to wear.
2. Getting Ready With Friends
During those hotel room outfit summits with your friends, it’s easy to compare and despair over others’ ability to wear skin-baring styles without worry. But remember: in a crowd of tens of thousands, there’s likely someone who relates to your experience. A staggering 8 million Americans are living with plaque psoriasis.³ So though you might feel isolated, it’s important to remember you’re not alone.
3. Dancing The Night Away
Part of the fun of picking a festival ensemble is testing out how it moves when you dance. And sure, you plan to do plenty of dancing, but a sense of unease about showing plaque-prone parts of your skin might linger in the back of your mind. This is especially challenging since plaques commonly appear on high-movement areas like knees, elbows, scalp, and torso — all sweaty spots you might be at risk of sweating off those topical creams.¹
4. Capturing The Moment
If you wore a cute outfit to a hyped-up festival, but shared none of it online, did it even happen? People dealing with plaque psoriasis might feel embarrassed to post a pic if it shows their plaques. And if you shy away from the documentation what was all that outfit planning for anyway?
5. After Hours Interrupted
Your festival fit is too good not to show off at the afters. But you might spend time thinking about leaving early so you can get to your multi-stop topical routine before bed. If it keeps your symptoms at bay, it might be worth it. But the truth is that in addition to being messy, time consuming, and unfriendly to your cute hairstyle, topical treatments also don’t address the root cause of your symptoms: systemic inflammation.⁴
A Treatment That Works From The Inside Out
Systemic inflammation lurking inside of the body is what Otezla® (apremilast) targets.⁵⁻⁷ The exact way in which Otezla helps improve symptoms isn’t completely understood. This twice-daily oral medication for plaque psoriasis works from the inside out, and in just four months, you can expect clearer skin with less redness, itching, and flaking.⁵⁻⁶ No blood test is needed to obtain a prescription, which means no needles!⁵ See Important Safety Information below for more key info.
As always, have a chat with your licensed healthcare professional before introducing any medication into your treatment regimen. Talk to your doctor today about whether Otezla might be a good option for you! And then, all that’s left to do is to pack… You might need another suitcase.
APPROVED USE
Otezla® (apremilast) is a prescription medicine used for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis for whom phototherapy or systemic therapy is appropriate.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
You must not take Otezla® (apremilast) if you are allergic to apremilast or to any of the ingredients in Otezla.
Otezla can cause allergic reactions, sometimes severe. Stop using Otezla and call your healthcare provider or seek emergency help right away if you develop any of the following symptoms of a serious allergic reaction: trouble breathing or swallowing, raised bumps (hives), rash or itching, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms.
Otezla can cause severe diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, especially within the first few weeks of treatment. Use in elderly patients and the use of certain medications with Otezla appears to increase the risk of complications from having severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if any of these conditions occur.
Otezla is associated with an increase in depression. In clinical studies, some patients reported depression, or suicidal behavior while taking Otezla. Some patients stopped taking Otezla due to depression. Before starting Otezla, tell your doctor if you have had feelings of depression, or suicidal thoughts or behavior. Be sure to tell your doctor if any of these symptoms or other mood changes develop or worsen during treatment with Otezla.
Some patients taking Otezla lost body weight. Your doctor should monitor your weight regularly. If unexplained or significant weight loss occurs, your doctor will decide if you should continue taking Otezla.
Some medicines may make Otezla less effective and should not be taken with Otezla. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines.
The most common side effects of Otezla include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, tension headache, and headache. These are not all the possible side effects with Otezla. Ask your doctor about other potential side effects. Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.
Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or planning to breastfeed.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-332-1088.
Please click here for the Full Prescribing Information for Otezla.
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REFERENCES:
¹ National Psoriasis Foundation. About Psoriasis. on June 10, 2025.
² National Psoriasis Foundation. Taking Care of Your Skin in Summer. Accessed on June 10, 2025.
³ National Psoriasis Foundation. Psoriasis Statistics. Accessed on June 10, 2025.
⁴ Gupta S, Garbarini S, Nazareth, et al. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2021;11(6):2057-2075.
⁵ Otezla® (apremilast) prescribing information, Amgen.
⁶ Schafer PH, Parton A, Capone L, et al. Apremilast is a selective PDE4 inhibitor with regulatory effects on innate immunity. Cell Signal. 2014;26(9):2016-2029
⁷ Menter A, Gelfand JM, Connor C, et al. Joint American Academy of Dermatology-National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis with systemic nonbiologic therapies. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;82(6):1445-1486.