Psoriatic Arthritis: Types, Symptoms and Diagnosis

Introduction

Arthritis is a disease that results in swelling or soreness of one or more of the joints in shoulders, elbows and knees. Arthritis is a common occurrence during the old age, when the strength between various body joints are at an all time low, which then typically worsens with increasing old age. Psoriatic arthritis is a variant that combiners the effects of arthritis with effects of psoriasis, with the latter being a skin condition resulting in itchy, scaly patches on skin surface.

While the name may seem unheard of, the fact that nearly 2 million Americans are estimated to have developed psoriatic arthritis shows how widespread the condition is, especially among senior citizens. They can either be mild or severe depending on the number of joints affected. The immediate step after detecting the symptoms would be to immediately take the patient to a doctor; all you need to do is Google, “psoriatic arthritis specialist near me” or “psoriatic arthritis doctor near me” and you will get the nearest clinics to book an appointment. However, you may have some questions about the condition which we shall try our best to answer:

What are the types of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA)?

There are 5 minor variants of psoriatic arthritis, and taking a look at those can help you find out which kind of psoriatic arthritis the patient has.

• Symmetric PsA: This is the most common type of PsA that occurs among PsA patients. In this case, similar joints are affected in both sides of the body as a pair, such as the right and left knees, or the right and left elbows. They can either be mild resulting in minor pain, or can be severe resulting in near-disability.
• Asymmetric PsA: In this case, only one side of the body is affected, either the right or left side joints.  Because it doesn’t occur in pairs, asymmetric PsA is usually mild and can be treated with relative ease.
• Mutilans PsA: This is one of the rare forms of psoriatic arthritis that affects about 5% of the total affected patients. The conditions are quite severe such as visible swelling and painful sores and patches on skin surface. While commonly affecting hands, they can also sometimes crop up in feet, causing severe neck and backpain as a side effect.
• Spondylitis PsA: In this case, spine is the one that is affected, resulting in intense back pain which also limits movement. Other areas such as hands, feet and hips also may be affected depending on the severity of the condition.
• Distal PsA: This type of psoriatic arthritis affects the joints near nails, both in hands and feet. While not as common as symmetric and asymmetric PsA, about 10% of the total affected patients are reported to have this condition. It is usually mild and not very painful.

What are the symptoms of Psoriatic Arthritis?

While symptoms may vary slightly from person to person depending on the affected body part and the type of psoriatic arthritis, there are a common set of symptoms common to all variants of psoriatic arthritis that include but are not limited to:

•     Swollen and/or sore joints on one or both left and right side of the body
•     Swelling in fingers and toes
•     Pain in muscles and joints
•     Weakness in joints (knees, elbows, feet, wrist, hands, hips, ankles etc.)
•     Pain in spinal cord and stiff back
•     Scaly patches on the skin surface
•     Itchy feeling on sore skin areas
•     Fatigue
•     Red eyes

How do I diagnose this?

The best option is to immediately take the patient to your nearest psoriatic arthritis treatment clinic. Not all clinics treat psoriatic arthritis; it is essential to pick the right clinic beforehand, have a talk over phone, book an appointment and then visit the clinic to avoid any physical hassles. The final decision on symptoms, diagnosis and treatment must be taken by a qualified medical practitioner who deals with psoriatic arthritis.