Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis causes damaging inflammation in your joints and throughout your body, often leading to problems like eye inflammation. The team at the Rheumatic Disease Center in Milwaukee and Glendale, Wisconsin, provides expert care for people with psoriatic arthritis. They combine the most advanced medication with dietary and exercise to support your whole-body health and fight inflammation. Call the nearest office today or request an appointment online at the first sign of psoriatic arthritis. Early treatment can help prevent progressive joint damage.

What is psoriatic arthritis?

Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis affecting one in four people with a skin condition called psoriasis. Though not common, psoriatic arthritis can develop in people who don’t have the skin condition.

Psoriasis causes red, scaly, itchy patches of thickened skin. Most patients have the skin condition before their joint symptoms begin. But you can develop arthritis before psoriasis appears.

What symptoms develop if I have psoriatic arthritis?

Psoriatic arthritis can affect one or several joints and develop on just one side of your body or in the same joint on both sides. Wherever your joint symptoms appear, they typically cycle between flare-ups and periods of remission.

If you have psoriatic arthritis, you could exhibit a range of symptoms, including:

• Fatigue
• Low-grade fever
• Joint swelling, stiffness, and pain
• Limited joint movement
• Swelling affecting an entire finger or toe (dactylitis)
• Cracking, pitting, and white spots on your nails
• Foot pain
• Lower back pain

Inflammation affecting your fingers or toes can be painful and make it impossible to use those digits. The ongoing inflammation anywhere in your body poses additional health risks and symptoms.

Prolonged joint inflammation erodes bones and causes joint deformities. Having psoriatic arthritis also increases your risk of developing inflammatory conditions beyond your joints.

For example, patients with psoriatic arthritis often develop eye inflammation (uveitis), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and cardiovascular disease.

How is psoriatic arthritis treated?

After completing a physical exam and on-site diagnostic imaging, your Rheumatic Disease Center provider develops a treatment plan based on your symptoms, age, and overall health.

Your provider focuses on reducing and controlling inflammation using medication like:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• Immunosuppressive medicines
• Corticosteroids
• Biologics

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, whether immunosuppressants or biologics, ease your symptoms and slow progressive joint damage.

The Rheumatic Disease Center also provides or recommends a range of holistic treatments, including:

• Dietary supplements (calcium and vitamin D)
• Anti-inflammatory diet
• Physical therapy and structured exercise
• Ultraviolet (UV) light treatments
• Psoriasis treatment
• Splinting
• Surgery to repair or replace a joint that’s suffered advanced damage 

The Rheumatic Disease Center team recommends several anti-inflammatory diets, including the Mediterranean, Pagano, Paleo®, gluten-free, and leaky gut diets.

Call the nearest office or request an appointment online at the first signs of psoriatic arthritis.