Psoriatic arthritis Causes and Symptoms and Treatments for Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic disease characterized by inflammation of the skin (psoriasis) and joints (arthritis). Psoriasis is a common skin condition affecting 2% of the Caucasian population in the United States. It features patchy, raised, red areas of skin inflammation with scaling. Psoriasis often affects the tips of the elbows and knees, the scalp, the navel, and around the genital areas or anus. Approximately 10% of patients who have psoriasis also develop an associated inflammation of their joints. Patients who have inflammatory arthritis and psoriasis are diagnosed as having psoriatic arthritis.

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Common Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms
Common, general symptoms associated with psoriatic arthritis include:
1. Pain and swelling in one or more joints, often the wrists, knees, ankles, and joints at end of fingers and toes
2. Swelling of fingers and toes causing them to appear sausage-like
3. Low back pain or buttocks pain
4. Silvery or grayish scaly spots often on scalp, elbows, knees, lower end of backbone
5. Pitting of fingernails or toenails
6. Fatigue
7. Morning stiffness of joints
8. Tendinitis
9. Conjunctivitis

Who gets psoriatic arthritis?
Psoriasis is a common skin condition affecting 2-3% of the population of the UK and Ireland. An estimated 5-7% of people with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis. This figure can increase to approximately 40% in people who have severe psoriasis. Men and women are equally likely to develop psoriatic arthritis with the peak onset being between the ages of 30 and 50 years (however psoriatic arthritis can occur at any age).

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In most cases (70%) psoriasis precedes psoriatic arthritis, in 15% of cases the skin and joint conditions occur at the same time and in the remaining 15% psoriatic arthritis is present before the skin condition psoriasis appears.

It is worth noting that people with psoriasis can also develop other forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis can occur at any age but usually strikes between the ages of 40 and 50. Along with the scaly spots that normally come with psoriasis, symptoms include joint pain, swelling, and stiffness; fingernail and toenail lesions; trouble moving; sausage-like look to fingers and toes; and eye redness and pain.

Besides the usual remedies for psoriasis, you can use these treatments for psoriatic arthritis:
1. Exercise. Keep up your strength and mobility. Stretching is especially important.
2. Rest. Take a break to ease the pain.
3. Heat and cold. Use these treatments to relieve pain and reduce swelling.
4. Splints. Support an aching joint so you can move - and feel - better.
5. Medications. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) soothe inflammation and joint pain. Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) tackle more server symptoms and stop your condition from getting worse.
6. Surgery. This might be necessary in extreme cases.