Arthritis is connected with inflammation of the joints. Psoriatic arthritis is related to psoriasis. It leads to red, scaly patches on the skin and pitted, broken nails. The disease usually appears to those with psoriasis. However, psoriasis is not necessarily accompanied by psoriatic arthritis.
Women and men have similar chances of acquiring psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. It can also affect people of all ages.
As it has been already mentioned, psoriatic arthritis often follows psoriasis. But there are cases when arthritis starts first. There are five major types of arthritis.
In case of asymmetric arthritis you have different joints on each side of the body affected.
If you have symmetric arthritis then there are the same joints on each side of the body affected by the disease. Symptoms are likely to reveal in several joints.
There is also spondylitis that affects the spine and causes back pain.
Other kind of arthritis is distal interphalangeal predominant arthritis. This type occurs very seldom and affects the joints near your fingernails and toenails.
Arthritis mutilans results in serious deformation of your fingers and toes. This type is also rarely found.
As far as the symptoms are concerned, psoriatic arthritis usually causes joint pain and stiffness. You can also observe redness and swelling around the affected joints.
In order to get some relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis you can resort to the following methods. You can try heat treatment to ease joint stiffness. To reduce swelling use some ice. In some cases you can try swimming, but before going for it consult your GP. And also there are relaxation techniques that can help.
Of course, if you have a severe arthritis, you should take medicines. There are painkillers, such as paracetamol, anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, and antirheumatic drugs. There are also three new medicines such as etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab.
