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Personalized Support for Your Joint and Skin Health
Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect the joints, skin, nails, and areas where tendons and ligaments attach to bones. It commonly occurs in people with psoriasis, but joint symptoms can sometimes appear before noticeable skin changes.
Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can help reduce inflammation, relieve symptoms, protect the joints, and maintain mobility.
Common Symptoms
Symptoms vary from person to person and may come and go in periods known as flares. Common signs include:
- Joint pain, swelling, or stiffness
- Morning stiffness that improves with movement
- Swollen fingers or toes
- Heel or foot pain
- Lower-back pain or stiffness
- Fatigue
- Reduced range of motion
- Psoriasis patches on the skin
- Nail pitting, separation, or discoloration
- Eye redness, pain, or sensitivity to light
Contact your healthcare provider if you have psoriasis and begin experiencing persistent joint pain, swelling, or stiffness.
How Is Psoriatic Arthritis Diagnosed?
There is no single test that confirms psoriatic arthritis. A healthcare provider—often a rheumatologist—may review your symptoms, medical and family history, skin and nail changes, and affected joints.
Blood tests and imaging studies such as X-rays, ultrasound, or MRI may help evaluate inflammation, identify joint damage, and rule out other forms of arthritis.
Treatment Options
There is currently no cure for psoriatic arthritis, but treatment can control inflammation, improve symptoms, and help prevent permanent joint damage. Your treatment plan will depend on the severity of your condition and whether it affects your joints, skin, spine, or other areas.
Treatment may include:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain and swelling
- Corticosteroid injections into affected joints
- Traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, known as DMARDs
- Biologic medications that target specific parts of the immune system
- Targeted oral therapies
- Physical or occupational therapy
- Exercise and lifestyle changes
Some treatments may weaken the immune system. Your healthcare provider may recommend tuberculosis, hepatitis, or other screening before treatment, along with ongoing laboratory monitoring.
Never start, stop, combine, or change medications without consulting your prescriber.
