What Psoriasis Looks Like
The symptoms of psoriasis are red spots or patches that grow bigger and get scales that flake off. People who get severe psoriasis may even get blisters. Doctors can tell if you have psoriasis after they look at your skin closely. If doctors are not sure if you have psoriasis, they may take a small sample of your skin and send it to a specialist to look at under a microscope.
Psoriatic Arthritis and Psorisis
Some of the people who have psoriasis will also get psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Psoriatic arthritis is a certain type of arthritis that develops in people who have psoriasis. Arthritis is a painful condition in your joints. It can make you feel tired and weak.
Signs & Symptoms
This type of arthritis is difficult to diagnose. It causes inflammation and swelling in and around the joints. The joints that are usually involved in psoriatic arthritis are usually the toes and the fingers. However, you can also get psoriatic arthritis in your other joints too.
You can be any age when you get psoriatic arthritis. Usually it occurs between the ages of 30 and 50. This type of arthritis is not very common. Some doctors think that it may be more common but is just difficult to diagnose because of the length of time between the symptoms showing up.
Many people who have psoriatic arthritis also get a stiff back or neck because of inflammation in their spine. This is called Spondylitis. It makes moving these areas very painful. Psoriatic arthritis can also cause you to have nail lesions. This means that your nails have pits, and become discolored and thick.
People who have psoriatic arthritis also have psroiasis. Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes your skin to be red and scaly. This arthritis is symmetric, meaning that it involves both sides of the body. Some of the other symptoms are fatigue, and redness and pain of the eye. It can also cause depression. This is because psoriatic arthritis makes life difficult to handle due to the pain. When it becomes hard to manage the tasks of daily living, it is easy to become depressed.
Diagnosing psoriatic arthritis can be difficult. Doctors do blood tests and joint fluid tests in order to diagnose this type of arthritis. In the joint fluid test, fluid is drawn from the affected joint. The blood test looks for indications of rheumatoid arthritis. People who get the diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis will not test positive for rheumatoid arthritis. This blood test will also show signs of inflammation and anemia. Doctors also do X-rays of the fingers and toes. (The x-rays show what damage has already been done.) This is important with any degenerative disease.
What to Do
There are a few things that you can do if you have psoriatic arthritis. First of all, people with psoriatic arthritis need to keep from getting hurt. Injury prevention is important so that you don’t make your arthritus worse. Secondly, you can watch your weight. Also, you can strengthen your muscles so that your joints have greater support.
Drugs
Doctors have also done research on two new drugs. These are angiotensin inhibitors and remicade.
Angiotensin inhibitors are drugs that decrease the ache in your joints. This is a new treatment, which looks very hopeful. It was originally used to treat high blood pressure but it can also help with psoriatic arthritis. However, this drug can irritate your bowels, and so you must use caution in taking it.
Remicade has just recently been approved for use in the United States. It was shown effective in a lab test. When you are truly being affected by your psoriatic arthritis, remicade can help. Remicade can reduce your symptoms.
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