What your joints need

The classes or types of psoriatic arthritis medication come in a myriad forms. Some medications have controversial issues because they can be given safely to arthritis but not to psoriasis. Since there are two problems with this type of illness, health care practitioners should focus on treating not only the arthritis problem. It is significant to remember to treat the psoriasis in order to heal the disease completely. Below is the list of medications used in treating psoriatic arthritis; it will help you know more about the drugs and their side effects.

Psoriatic Arthritis Medication – NSAID’s

One of the most used psoriatic arthritis medication is the NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug). They help control the swelling, pain and inflammation of the joints. NSAIDs also relieve the patient of morning stiffness. Compared to other anti inflammatory drugs, the NSAIDs act more efficiently and have higher potencies.

However, the drugs may cause irritation in the intestines which can result to gastrointestinal problems such as bleeding and ulcers. Other significant side effects include: fluid retention, damage to the kidneys, and heart failure. These drugs may even cause more problems with your skin. However, they are still recommended because of their efficiency in curing psoriatic arthritis symptoms.

Psoriatic Arthritis Medication – Corticosteroids

The psoriatic arthritis medication given to milder forms of the disease is Corticosteroids. Like the NSAIDs, they help decrease the inflammation of the joints. They can be given either orally or parenterally to the patient. Corticosteroids can also be injected directly to the affected joint for faster effects; the direct injectable types also provide for improvement in the patient’s range of motion. However, these injectables can cause much damage; that is why, the administration of this type of Corticosteroid is controlled or limited.

Psoriatic Arthritis Medication – DMARDs

The most efficient psoriatic arthritis medication is said to be the DMARD’s. DMARD’s is an abbreviation for Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs; they do not only reduce pain and inflammation in the joints, they also limit the degree of joint damage in the patient. Because of this, DMARDs are given for long term use. However, the effects of DMARDs only take place after two to four weeks of drug use. For this reason, the doctor prescribes pain relievers which immediately act on the body to relieve the patient from discomfort.

Psoriatic Arthritis Medication – Other Drugs

The several forms of psoriatic arthritis medication mentioned above are focused on treating the joint problems of the patient. It is to be remembered that other drugs are needed to control the psoriasis problems, and these are: Etretinate which is a derivative of Vitamin A and Methotrexate which is a potent immunosuppresant. The use of these drugs is controlled as they can cause severe immune suppression which can lead to other potential problems.