Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms and Treatment

Psoriatic arthritis is a strange form of arthritis and people who develop it have often suffered from psoriasis of the skin during their life.

It is also a somewhat hereditary disease where 1 in 20 people who suffer from psoriasis have a stronger chance of catching this disease, but in only a few cases will it flare up to the extent that it poses a serious health risk.

So there is no definitive cause but genes are argued to play a role.

Early Signs

Ascertaining whether you have psoriatic arthritis is difficult in the early stages as the symptoms can represent a number of ailments, but the most common are inflammation of one or two joints, feeling slightly fragile and psoriasis of the skin, but more like in patches rather than a rash along with the pitting of the nails.

Advanced Symptoms

About a year after your diagnosis, depending on which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - or NSAID's - you've been prescribed, these may help reduce the pain or not, as each individual will undergo various cocktail measures so as to find the right balance to combat the pain.

The problem with NSAID's is that while they can reduce the pain and the swelling, they effectively cover up the true extent of the disease and play no part in the remission process.

The joints, toes and the end of the fingers are most commonly effected with psoriatic arthritis, but occasionally the spine is affected and the symptoms here include a burning sensation, stiffness and sometimes jolts of pain in the sacrum and lower back.

Treatment for Swelling and Joint Pain

As mentioned, in the West NSAID's are most commonly prescribed to null the pain and reduce the swelling, and when these don't work, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or DMARD's may be prescribed.

Again, both NSAID's and DMARD's can effect your liver, kidneys, heart and cause additional rashes so for the short term they will provide some relief.

For the long term though you should focus on getting the disease into remission.

Do you want to suffer from psoriatic arthritis all your life?

Treatment for Remission

Acupuncture is still frowned upon by most medical practitioners in the West, but don't be scared to explore this alternative, it may not help so much with remission but is argued by many to be the most natural, safest, and fastest way to reduce swelling and pain around the joint.

Diet and exercise also play a huge role in combating certain types of arthritis and this is one such type where you should focus on both these forms of treatment.

Exercise

Depending on the seriousness of it, exercise may include just walking in lukewarm water for up to an hour if it's the feet that are the problem, or daily stretching for the spine and swimming which is wonderful for you all-round, plus yoga and other low impact sports.

Diet

Diet should be a high alkaline diet, not high acid as this diet will depend on the calcium in the bones (if calcium levels are low in the body) to buffer the high acid content through digestion, therefore depleting them of much needed calcium and minerals.

However magnesium is more effective for rebuilding bone structure so try and eat as much food that contains this element along with additional supplements.

Also, and it can't go overlooked but omega 3, 6 and 9 proteins should be consumed regularly along with supplements rich in anti-inflammatory compounds such as spores extracted from reishi, the mushroom used for centuries in the East to help with swelling, joint pain and remission.

Additional natural substances which should be part of your everyday diet are Vitamin D - at least 800mg a day, Vitamin C, Ginger, White Willow Bark, Chondroitin Sulfate and MSM.