Psoriatic arthritis is a disease which affects patients with psoriasis. In this condition of psoriatic arthritis, red patches of skin topped with silvery scales appear on the skin. This type of arthritis usually affects patients suffering from various symptoms like pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints.
This kind of arthritis affects the body parts such as fingertips, spine etc. The severity of psoriatic arthritis can be mild or severe, and there are popular treatments to curb the disease and its symptoms. There is no cure for psoriatic arthritis but the symptoms can be controlled. The treatment is very essential for psoriatic arthritis as it can lead disability if neglected.
Psoriatic arthritis affects joints partially or the whole body. The symptoms of psoriatic arthritis as same as that of rheumatoid arthritis except for some symptoms such as swollen fingers and toes. The pain in the tendons and ligaments may also aggravate the pain at the back of the heel or in the sole of the foot. Other symptoms of this disease can be lower back pain and spondylitis.
In psoriatic arthritis, the immune system attacks the healthy cells and tissue which causes inflammation in joints and excessive production of skin cells. The treatment of psoriatic arthritis aims to control the inflammation and pain in joints.
The psoriatic arthritis treatment includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that relieve the pain in the joints and which reduce the inflammation in the affected parts. Medicines such as ibuprofen, advil, motrin IB, naproxen sodium, etc. are used to reduce the pain and inflammation. These medicines are available over the counter which does not cause much side effects. The prescription medication which is powerful can cause side effects such as stomach irritation, heart problems, etc.
Some drugs can slow the growth of psoriatic arthritis which helps in reducing the damage to the joints and other tissues. The drugs such as methotrexate (Trexall), leflunomide (Arava), and sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) are the ones which are used to prevent the damage to the joints. There can be some side effects due to these drugs such as liver damage, bone marrow suppression, infection in lungs.
New treatment for psoriatic arthritis along with medicine such as apremilast (Otezla), ustekinumab (Stelara) and secukinumab (Cosentyx) can help reduce the symptoms much more effectively.
Steroid injections and joint replacement surgery may be adviced by the doctor in the severe cases where the patient can become disabled, or the pain is unbearable.