Treatment of psoriatic Arthritis

Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis is not much different to treatment of other forms of arthritis.  The main difference is that treatment of psoriatic arthritis can also involve treatment of psoriatic arthritis skin inflammation.

Treatment of psoriatic arthritis targets the underlying inflammatory process affecting the joints.  This treatment of psoriatic arthritis attempts to reduce and control the inflammation.

Treatment of psoriatic Arthritis

The first line of treatment of psoriatic arthritis is usually non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).   These target the inflammation causing ultimately causing the deformation within the joint.  However, this deformation is now thought to occur early on in the disease so treatment of psoriatic arthritis has changed with this.  Now, disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are utilized much earlier.  These drugs alter how the immune system functions and helps the joint membranes become more resistant to damage due to inflammation.

In cases where treatment of psoriatic arthritis must address severe pain, corticosteroid injections can be made into the joint.  There are side effects to this procedure so it does not occur very often and is only practical if only a few joints are involved.

Supplements are also available as an alternative treatment to psoriatic arthritis.  This includes supplementation with chondroitin and glucosamine, mehylsofonylmethane, and S-adenosylmethionine.  These four compounds are naturally found in joints so supplementation with them could have beneficial effects in slowing joint damage and immobilization.  The long term effects of these have not been fully examined.  As well, these alternative treatments are not substitutes for traditional treatments of psoriatic arthritis which are more effective at managing all aspects of the disease.