Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is when your joints become inflamed due to you having a skin condition called psoriasis. While psoriasis can be mild or severe, it can affect any joints in your body, leading to injury. While there is no cure for it, you can receive treatment to help you manage your symptoms and slow joint damage.

The primary symptoms of psoriatic arthritis are:

• Joint pain.
• Joint swelling.
• Joint stiffness.
• Swelling of your fingers and toes.
• Your nails may become disfigured or fall out.
• Pain in your lower back.

This condition is a complication of psoriasis, a long-term skin condition without a cure.

The things that put you at risk are:

• Having psoriasis, a skin disease that causes dry, itchy, and scaly patches.
• Having people in your family with psoriatic arthritis.
• Being between ages 30 and 55 years.

See your healthcare provider as soon as you start to have joint swelling and stiffness. This indicates your psoriasis is progressing because your treatment is not working or the condition has become more aggressive.

To prevent this condition:

• Treat your psoriasis early.
• Maintain good lifestyle by exercising regularly and eating healthy foods.

Self-care tips:

• Use over-the-counter painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen.
• Reduce your alcohol intake and stop smoking.
• Try to reduce your weight if you are overweight or obese to reduce strain on your joints.
• Keep being physically active with exercises but don’t wear yourself out.

Treatment options:

• Your healthcare provider will inject steroid medications into your joints. This will usually reduce the swelling and slow down further damage.
• The joint damage may be extensive or aggressive. Your healthcare provider may perform surgery to replace the damaged joints. This procedure is expensive in Nigeria and is mainly carried out at the orthopaedic hospitals in Nigeria.

Having psoriatic arthritis is like living with two conditions at once, which can be challenging. You should seek treatment early so that your joints will not become permanently damaged.