Back pain of psoriatic arthritis

If your back bothers you, it is important to check with your doctor to access the deep cause.

In the end, your back imagery will help your doctor determine if you have axial psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis. “Although there is overlap, there are subtle differences in the appearances of X-ray changes in the sacroiliac joints and the spine,” explains Davis.

Another common cause of discomfort is mechanical back pain, which are linked to an injury. If you have obesity, the pain can be caused by an additional weight on your spine. Unlike spondylated that, which is generally better when you move and worse with rest, mechanical back pain is worse when you move and better with rest, according to Davis and Bhatt. Mechanical back pain also tends to cause a brief stiffness of the back upon waking, while spondylitis causes persistent morning stiffness, adds Davis.

That said, it is easy to confuse symptoms from one condition for the other. “What seems to be mechanical pain could be inflammatory pain, and what seems to be inflammatory pain could be mechanical pain,” said Bhatt.

People with psoriatic arthritis can also have back pain related to a number of other causes, explains Davis, in particular:

• Osteoarthrosis of the spine, also known as the degenerative joint disease of the spine
• Vertebral stenosis, or the narrowing of the spaces of your spine which trigger nervous pain
• Fibromyalgia, or generalized musculoskeletal pain that occurs when the brain treats pain differently from normal
• Central awareness, a condition where the central nervous system amplifies the feeling of pain

“This is a very complex subject, so it is preferable to ask a doctor,” said Bhatt. “There are certain tests that your doctor can perform to confirm the right diagnosis.”