1. Myth: Everyone With Psoriatic Arthritis Has Psoriasis
Not everyone with one condition will automatically have the other. While there is a strong link between psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, up to 17 percent of people with a PsA diagnosis don’t have any visible skin symptoms at the time of their joint diagnosis.
“Though most adult patients develop psoriasis concurrently or before the symptoms of arthritis, there is a small subset of patients where arthritis develops before the skin manifestations,” says Nayaab Bakshi, DO, a fellow at Stony Brook Medicine’s division of rheumatology in Stony Brook, New York.
That said, Dr. Morris points out that there are PsA patients who may not be aware they also have psoriasis, which manifests in different ways. There can be patches of thick, scaly skin that can appear on the scalp, elbows, knees, or lower back; yellow-brown spots on the nails; or pustules can develop on the hands or feet.
“Psoriasis is not recognized easily, and you may not know what to be looking for,” Morris says. If you do notice a skin eruption, he adds, make an appointment with a dermatologist for a thorough examination.
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