What is psoriatic arthritis?
Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your immune system mistakenly starts attacking healthy joints and skin. The faulty immune response causes inflammation that can trigger joint pain, stiffness and swelling, as well as red, scaly skin patches called plaques.
Over time, psoriatic arthritis can cause degenerative joint damage in some patients, so the earlier you receive a diagnosis, the better.
[My psoriatic arthritis] was always in my feet. It focused around pain.
– Jessica, HUMIRA Patient
Psoriatic arthritis symptoms commonly affect skin and joints.
Red, flaky skin patches
Psoriasis symptoms usually come first. Red, scaly patches, known as plaques, can appear on any part of your body. However, some people have few or no skin symptoms at all.
Joint pain & damage
Joint tenderness, swelling, and stiffness can follow years after skin symptoms start. And over time, if left untreated, psoriatic arthritis can cause permanent joint damage.
In the first 2 years of psoriatic arthritis, almost 50% of patients will have joint damage.
©2015 American College of Rheumatology. Used with permission.
Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic disease, so the treatment focus is on controlling symptoms and helping to prevent further damage to your joints.
Get help identifying your skin and joint symptoms. Take the Symptom Quiz and share the results with your doctor.
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