Skin findings alone are often enough to make a clinical diagnosis of psoriasis. Other times, careful assessment of nails or joints are needed when skin findings are equivocal. In very confusing cases, a skin biopsy may be helpful but for most patients this will not be necessary.
Retier Syndrome, or Reactive Arthritis with Conjunctivitis/Urethritis/Diarrhea, is an uncommon disease with a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms some of which mimic psoriasis.
There are many types of psoriasis, and even subtypes of the types. Pustular psoriasis is an example of a type of psoriasis that can be further categorized into one of several distinct subtypes of this variety.
How does your doctor diagnose psoriasis? What sort of measures are used to evaluate the disease and the progress and results of treatment? Various indices have been employed, especially those aimed at evaluating the effect of psoriasis on a patient's
quality of life.
Your dermatologist may easily recognize a typical plaque of psoriasis on site, but for the untrained eye this will be more difficult. What are the key features of psoriasis and what are the signs and symptoms to look for?
Other skin diseases besides psoriasis can cause inflammation and scaling of the skin, however subtle clues are usually enough to distinguish these mimics from true psoriasis. Your dermatologist is an expert at making this diagnosis, and if any confusion exists, they are able to do a skin biopsy to poinpoint the diagnosis.
Psoriasis and Eczema share the common traits of being chronic red scaly skin conditions. How are they different?
Psoriasis, Eczema and Rosacea can each cause a red facial rash, so how can these three be separated?
There are several subtypes of pustular psoriasis. It may be confined to small areas of the body; often times, just the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, or the fingers and/or toes are affected in what is called the focal form of the disease. It can cover larger areas of the body as well. The generalized form (von Zumbusch psoriasis) is much more serious, and this form can even be fatal.
Inverse psoriasis might be thought of as hidden psoriasis. This uncommon condition presents a similar rash to standard psoriasis, but it doesn't appear on exposed areas of the body. Instead, it occurs in the skin folds, such as the armpit and groin, and it can produce debilitating pain and itching.
What clinical findings and test results point to a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis?
If you notice thick, itchy red patches on your scalp, you might have scalp psoriasis, a condition that won't affect your general health but can be an uncomfortable and unsightly burden.
Although you may have heard of psoriasis, you may not know that there are actually five different types. You can have more than one type of psoriasis at the same time, or you may start out with symptoms of one type that morph over time into symptoms of another type.