psoriatic arthritis frequently involves inflammation of the knees ankles and joints in the feet and hands. usually only a few joints are inflamed at a time. the inflamed joints become painful swollen hot and red. sometimes joint inflammation in the fingers or toes can cause swelling of the entire digit giving them the appearance of a sausage. joint stiffness is common and is typically worse early in the morning. less commonly psoriatic arthritis may involve many joints of the body in a symmetrical fashion mimicking the pattern seen in rheumatoid arthritis. psoriatic arthritis can also cause inflammation of the spine (spondylitis) and the sacrum causing pain and stiffness in the low back buttocks neck and upper back. in about 50% of those with spondylitis the genetic marker hla-b27 can be found. in rare instances psoriatic arthritis involves the small joints at the ends of the fingers. a very destructive form of arthritis called mutilans can cause rapid damage to the joints of the hands and feet and loss of their function. fortunately this form of arthritis is rare in patients with psoriatic arthritis. patients with psoriatic arthritis can also develop inflammation of the tendons (tendinitis) and around cartilage. this inflammation may lead to an enthesopathy which is inflammation of a tendon at the site where it inserts into the bone. inflammation of the tendon behind the heel causes achilles tendinitis leading to pain with walking and climbing stairs. inflammation of the chest wall and of the cartilage that links the ribs to the breastbone (sternum) can cause chest pain as seen in costochondritis.
what are the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis?