Does this look like PsA to you?

[Forest Walker]

Just wondering.  This is my hand.  And my fingernail with a little pitting.  

[Caroline]

Well.. I have PsA, and I don’t have that on my nails.

But it might be a first sign.
Keep a good eye/feel on your tendons. With me that were the first signs.
And I also got a think and painful finger.

[jiml]

The pitting and striations are probably nail psoriasis I'm sure, as I have it and I have one nail that always grows with a split, whether they indicate PsA I'm not sure but my nails have been like it for years, long before I had signs of PsA

[jiml]

I meant to add that my striations are deeper than yours and mainly on my thumbs

[Fred]

Could be FW, but also could be just nail psoriasis. I don't see much swelling or redness in the joints on your fingers, but it could be early onset. Like Caroline said tendons or in my case my thumb joint was the first it felt like piece of glass in there.

[KatT]

I have pitting, striations and one that splits like Jim.

When my psoriasis was out of control, the nail was "unsticking" from the nail bed

[jiml]

I have pitting, striations and one that splits like Jim.

When my psoriasis was out of control, the nail was "unsticking" from the nail bed

I'm lucky that none of my nails lifted from the nail bed . That sounds painful

[Forest Walker]

Thank you for the replies.  I had a telehealth visit with my gastroenterologist on Monday morning, and he was asking if I had arthritis.  I showed my hand to the laptop camera, and he thought the swollen knuckles on middle finger and thumb looked like it might be psoriatic arthritis, saying his mother had it.  

My grandmother had swollen knuckles.  I've thought I was inheriting my grandmother's hands.  IF this was psoriatic arthritis, then perhaps this is hereditary and not necessarily drug induced.  Degenerative disc disease, whatever that means, has been noted on CT scans I've had for other issues.  

Just musing, I guess.  But it may have some consideration when choosing a different medicine for both Crohn's and Psoriasis, if I'm going to switch away from Humira and Methotrexate.

[Caroline]

Thank you for the replies.  I had a telehealth visit with my gastroenterologist on Monday morning, and he was asking if I had arthritis.  I showed my hand to the laptop camera, and he thought the swollen knuckles on middle finger and thumb looked like it might be psoriatic arthritis, saying his mother had it.  

My grandmother had swollen knuckles.  I've thought I was inheriting my grandmother's hands.  IF this was psoriatic arthritis, then perhaps this is hereditary and not necessarily drug induced.  Degenerative disc disease, whatever that means, has been noted on CT scans I've had for other issues.  

Just musing, I guess.  But it may have some consideration when choosing a different medicine for both Crohn's and Psoriasis, if I'm going to switch away from Humira and Methotrexate.

Maybe your middle finger is a bit thicker..

But…
Does it hurt?
Does it hurt when bending it?
Do you have a lack of power in it? E.g. grabbing a heavy pot with your hands.
If you keep on bending it, so I mean, bend - unbend - bend - unbend, does this reduce pain?

That things would point to Psoriatic Arthritis.

My pointing finger has been twice as thick as normal, could hardly do anything with it.

There is a way to find out if it really is Psoriatic Arthritis, but only if your fingers are really thick and swollen. The swelling, if it happens, is because of an inflammation fluid. They can do a puncture and get some fluid out. If you put that fluid under a microscope you can check if there are pyruvatic crystals in it. That is the real proof of Psoriatic Arthritis.

[Forest Walker]

Thanks, Caroline.  Those are helpful questions, and the part about looking for the crystals under a microscope is good to know.