Psoriatic Arthritis – Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis

Here are all things that you wanted to know about psoriatic arthritis including psoriatic arthritis symptoms, treatment, diagnosis and psoriatic arthritis diet.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a condition that combines the swollen, sore joints of arthritis with psoriasis. Psoriasis typically causes itchy, scaly red patches to appear on the skin and scalp.

Symptoms of Psoriatic Arthritis

• Swollen, tender joints on one or both sides of your body
• Morning stiffness
• Swollen fingers and toes
• Painful muscles and tendons
• Scaly skin patches, which may get worse when joint pain flares up
• Flaky scalp
• Fatigue
• Nail Pitting
• Separation of your nail from the nail bed
• Eye Redness
• Eye Pain (uveitis)

Types of Psoriatic Arthritis

There are five types of Psoriatic Arthritis

1. Symmetric Psoriatic Arthritis
This type affects the same joints on both sides of your body, so both your left and right knees, for example. Symptoms can be like those of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


Symmetric PsA tends to be milder and cause less joint deformity than RA. However, symmetric PsA can be disabling. About half of people with PsA have this type.

 

2. Asymmetric Psoriatic Arthritis
This affects a joint or joints on one side of your body. Your joints may feel sore and turn red. Asymmetric PsA is generally mild. It affects about 35 percent of people with PsA.

 

3. Distal interphalangeal predominant PsA
This type involves the joints closest to your nails. These are known as the distal joints. It occurs in about 10 percent of people with PsA.

 

4. Spondylitis PsA
This type of PsA involves your spine. Your entire spine from your neck to your lower back may be affected. This can make movement very painful. Your hands, feet, legs, arms, and hips may also be affected.

 

5. Psoriatic Arthritis Mutilans
This is a severe, deforming type of PsA. About 5 percent of people with PsA have this type. Psoriatic arthritis mutilans usually affects your hands and feet. It can also cause pain in your neck and lower back.

 

psoriatic-arthritis-symptoms-treatment-diagnosis-diet
psoriatic-arthritis-symptoms-treatment-diagnosis-diet

Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis

In Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis, your doctor has to rule out other causes of arthritis, such as RA and gout, with imaging and blood tests.

X-rays. These check for inflammation and damage to bones and joints. MRIs. These images can help your doctor check for joint, tendon, or ligament damage.

CT scans and ultrasounds. These can help doctors determine how advanced PsA is and how badly joints are affected.

Blood tests for these substances help assess any inflammation present in your body:

C-reactive protein. This is a substance your liver produces when there’s inflammation in your body.

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate. This reveals how much inflammation is in your body. However, it can’t determine if the inflammation is from PsA or other possible causes.

Rheumatoid factor (RF). Your immune system produces this autoantibody. It’s usually present in RA but negative in PsA. An RF blood test can help your doctor tell whether you have PsA or RA.

Joint fluid. This culture test removes a small amount of liquid from your knee or other joint. If uric acid crystals are in the fluid, you might have gout instead of PsA.

Red blood cells. A low red blood cell count from anemia is common in people with PsA.

Psoriatic Arthritis Diet

Its simple while we go for psoriatic arthritis diet – eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. They help lower inflammation and manage your weight. 


Excess weight puts more pressure on joints that are already sore. Limit sugar and fat, which are inflammatory. 

Put an emphasis on sources of healthy fats, like fish, seeds, and nuts.


Click here if you would like to know about Types of Psoriasis

2 thoughts on “Psoriatic Arthritis – Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis”

  1. Deepthi Kondagari

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  2. The very nice informative and impressive post you have written, this is quite interesting and I have gone through it completely, an upgraded information is shared, keep sharing such valuable information.

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