A kind of arthritis which affects mainly the patients having psoriasis is known as psoriatic arthritis. In this disease, red lesions occur on the joints of the patients. You can experience the swelling of the skin in case of this disease. Joint stiffness can also happen to lead you to a painful condition. There is no proper cure for this disease available till now however, certain treatments can help you stay normal. You must always consider visiting a doctor when you get affected with the mentioned disease otherwise it may lead you to complete disability.
Diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis
The doctors have a number of techniques to diagnose the situation of psoriatic arthritis. They can take the following ways to examine you.
- Checking your joints closely for the presence of tenderness in the skin is what the doctors can do.
- Press certain areas of your body to check the tenderness. Doctors generally press your elbow or the heels to check the tenderness.
- Examine the fingernails of your hands and feet. In the case of arthritis, the nails would start flaking.
Imaging tests
Your doctor might go for the X rays to check the conditions of your joints. It helps them to pick out the infected joints from the normal ones. The X rays easily show the changes which the joints experience due to the infection.
MRI scans can help your doctor to get a wide look to the tissues and the bones as a whole. He can check if there is any abnormality present in the tissues like ligaments and tendons.
Lab tests
- Joint fluid test
The Joint Fluid Test is applicable because it helps your doctor to differentiate your condition from Gout to psoriatic arthritis. The doctor will take a small amount of fluid from the knee. He might also choose other joints of your body to do it. - RF Test
RF test is done to check it the Rheumatoid factor is positive in your case or not. Treatments can vastly differ if your blood contains the Rheumatoid factor.
Treatment options for psoriatic arthritis
The way to completely cure psoriatic arthritis is still not distinct. However, there are a number of treatments which can keep you in a normal condition.
The doctor will prescribe you with certain Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) It can help you reduce the immense pains of your body.
DMARDs are disease modifying drugs which helps in reducing the progression of the disease. This helps in saving the normal tissues from permanent damage. Main organs like liver, kidney, and heart will escape from the infection if the DMARDs are provided in time.
TNF- alpha inhibitors are given to you by the doctors on certain situations. In the case of advanced Psoriatic Arthritis, it can help to reduce the bitter pains of your body. It also helps to check the condition of tenderness of the various infected tissues of your body. However, this medication has side-effects like nausea, hair loss and diarrhea.
So, these are the diagnostic measures and treatments of psoriatic arthritis.
