If you currently have psoriasis, you need to watch out for signs of arthritis. This is because people that have psoriasis can develop psoriatic arthritis. Below is information on what this is as well as different treatment options that are available so you can get the treatment that you need once you start noticing signs of this arthritis.

Psoriatic Arthritis

With psoriatic arthritis, the main symptom is problems with your joints. For example, you would have pain in your joints and your joints will swell and become stiff, especially if you are on your feet a lot. You may also notice pain in other areas, such as your spine and even your fingers and fingertips. This type of arthritis can cause mild pain to very severe pain. This type of arthritis can go into remission, however, but the remission will not be permanent.

In some cases, you can develop psoriatic arthritis before you have psoriasis, but this is not common. As with all types of arthritis, there is no cure for this type of arthritis. Because of this, the doctor will help in controlling your symptoms so the arthritis will not damage your joints. If you get no treatment at all, you will likely become disabled.

Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment

There are medications that have been known to treat psoriatic arthritis. Your doctor can go over these medications with you and decide what would work best. The doctor may also tell you to take certain vitamins along with the medication to further help you.

Light therapy is sometimes used to treat psoriatic arthritis to help with pain. With this, you have to cover your eyes as UV light is used and can be dangerous. Your body will be exposed to the UV light for only a few minutes. You will do this therapy a few times a week for a few months.

It is not common but, in some cases, surgery will be an option for you. This is especially true if none of the above treatments work for you. One procedure the doctor may suggest is known as synovectomy. With this, the doctor will remove the part of the joint that is diseased. In some cases, your entire joint will need to be replaced. This can be a painful surgery so this would be the last option.

Talk with your doctor about the different treatment options, and they can give you many more details. The doctor may also have other treatment options to offer you such as making changes to your lifestyle like dieting if you are overweight.

Talk to a professional about arthritis pain treatments.