Can Having A Chronic Skin Condition Lead to Arthritis?

People diagnosed with psoriasis suffer from sore, inflamed and scaly skin, but they are also a risk from a form of arthritis associated with the chronic skin condition.

Psoriatic arthritis can strike at any age, but is more likely to develop about 10 years after the first signs of psoriasis. One in seven patients notice arthritis symptoms well before the skin condition becomes apparent.

Unlike osteoarthritis, which affects twice as many women as men, psoriatic arthritis affects both sexes in equal numbers.

There are different types of psoriatic arthritis, which affects 20 percent of people with psoriasis; asymmetric, symmetric, mutilans, spondylitis and distal interphalangeal.

Symmetric psoriatic arthritis affects joints on both sides of the body at the same time and affects 50 percent of all psoriatic arthritis sufferers. Asymmetric, which affects 35 percent, tends to be milder and does not affect joints on both sides of the body.

Arthritis mutilans causes severe joint damage and is present for months or years before the damage is noticed. This type of psoriatic arthritis affects fewer than five percent of sufferers.

Distal interphalangeal affects the joints closest to the tips of the fingers and toes, while spondylitis affects the neck or spine and can also be present in the feet and hands.

Those with psoriatic arthritis often develop psoriatic nail lesions which cause pitting of the nails or even the lose the nail completely. In fact, 80 percent of sufferers have these problems with their nails.

The treatment for psoriatic arthritis is similar to that given to patients with other types of the condition. After diagnosis, anti-inflammatory drugs will, most likely, be prescribed.

If anti-inflammatory drugs do not have the desired effect, a patient may be given immunosuppressants to treat the psoriasis and arthritis.

There are natural therapies that prove popular among sufferers of psoriatic arthritis, including emu oil which is said to bring the anti-inflammatory medicine to the affected areas.

Nutritional supplements can also help relieve the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis.

It is important for people who suffer from psoriasis to be aware of the type of arthritis that can affect them and look out for any early signs of the condition.