How to diagnose psoriatic arthritis?
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Loading ...Psoriatic arthritis is one of the main types of arthritis. In this short article, we try to understand the how to diagnose psoriatic arthritis. First of all let’s see what psoriatic arthritis means.
Psoriatic arthritis is a condition that associated with a skin condition called ‘psoriasis’. Once the patients get this type of arthritis, a skin condition is developed with red and raise area in the skin. Other than the skin condition, there are many other symptoms developed for psoriatic arthritis and we will be discussing them below. Many patients (about 85%) develop psoriasis symptoms first and then develop arthritis. For other, it happens the other way around.
Correctly identifying the symptoms is the first step towards diagnosing the decease. For this particular type of arthritis, the symptoms usually vary. Any joint of the body can be affected by this type of arthritis. Psoriasis usually cause discolored or thickened fingernails and the joints near these fingernails will get arthritis. So in this sense, psoriasis causes much complication to the body and they eventually become a type of arthritis.
Back pain (lower), tendinitis, stiffness of the joints in the mornings, fatigue, discolored fingers and toes, and conjunctivitis are the most common symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. There are many types of psoriatic arthritis and the symptoms and diagnosis may differ from type to type. Symmetric, asymmetric, spondylitis, arthritis mutilans, and distal interphalangeal predominant are the main types of psoriatic arthritis. Symmetric and Asymmetric types of psoriatic arthritis are the once that can be identified easily and they effect the body in two different ways. Symmetric type will affect the same join in both the sides of the body while asymmetric type will not affect the same joint in both the sides. However, asymmetric type will affect different joints of both the sides of the body.
When it comes to diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, there is no single test involved. This makes the diagnosis process longer, painful, and expensive. The diagnosis process may employee techniques such as physical examination, MRI scans, X-ray tests, and blood tests whenever required. There are many similarities of the symptoms to other types of arthritis and especially with reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
Same as any other decease, early diagnosis is so much important to start the treatment at the early stage of psoriatic arthritis. There are many types of treatments used for treating psoriatic arthritis and combinations of these types are also used for obtaining better results. Psoriasis patients needs to be knowledgeable of how to diagnosis psoriatic arthritis as they might move on to the path of psoriatic arthritis soon. Whenever they are diagnosed as psoriatic patients, they need to consult a qualified person for treating arthritis.
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