Symptoms of Psoriatic Arthritis

While psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a single disease, it can have many different symptoms that affect the skin and joints, including:

Swelling of an entire finger or toe, sometime causing a “sausage” like appearance;
General joint pain and stiffness, especially in the morning;
Joint swelling;
Back pain and stiffness, primarily in the lower back, neck, and upper back;
Reduced range of motion;
Painful, often throbbing joints;
Psoriatic skin lesions;
Nail changes, including small indentations, lifting and or discoloration of the fingernails or toenails, which occur in almost all patients;
Generalized fatigue;
Inflammatory eye conditions that can cause redness, pain, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light. Thirty percent of PsA patients have conjunctivitis, and seven percent have iritis.

The symptoms of PsA, which vary from person to person, can change in severity. Skin symptoms typically (but not always) appear before the joints become involved, sometimes up to 10 years before. Without treatment, many of these symptoms can lead to progressive, permanent joint damage.