Psoriatic Arthritis and My Joints that Brings Me Pain

I have psoriatic arthritis and more and more my body parts - my arms, legs, knees, and shoulder - are letting me know this. I know our body is made up of muscles and ligaments. I am also aware that the spine connects to the shoulder. I would have never imagined not being able to bend down and tie my shoes. The action of reaching my arms up to zip up my dress feels like utter pain. The stiffness and pain is nothing to play with. Sometimes slight movement will make me say, “I can’t take this!”. My body creaks and groans in the morning, crying out for me not to take those steps, but I must.

What's hard for me to do? Almost everything!

Yes, it’s hard and getting harder. I have decided to not get depressed and just keep moving forward. Basic daily tasks that we use our arms and shoulders for become difficult with psoriatic arthritis.

• Reach up to get things off the shelf
• Comb and shampoo hair
• Daily dressing
• Driving a car
• Housecleaning
• Carrying groceries
• Carrying our purse
• Transporting our luggage
• Exercising
• Washing clothes

These are some things that affect me daily. The problem is sometimes the medication does not bring relief, but I’m stronger than people think I am. Friends and even family look at me and feel sorry for me; don’t feel sorry for me. I just want people to understand what it feels like to walk around every day in pain and knowing that your medication no longer works. I share my struggles to inspire others, not for pity.

What's connective tissue? How does it help?

I've been hearing a lot about connective tissue. Connective tissue provides support to the body and binds other tissues. Our body has four types of connective tissue based on the characteristics of the matrix and ground substance.

• The first type of connective tissue is proper tissue
• The second type is cartilage tissue
• The third type is bone tissue
• The fourth type is blood tissue

I find this very interesting because there is so much about the human body we don't know. When I'm having pain, it surely makes me want to know what is bringing this pain and how the ligaments, muscles, and joints are being affected. We know PsA affects us in numerous ways. I know if there is anything connected or joined together that shouldn't be I would want to know.

Our connective tissue supports our tendons and ligaments to keep them together and provide support. They protect by holding the tissue together properly. Muscle tissue has the ability to exert force and produce movement when necessary.

Understanding what's happening to my body

Since having psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis I have taken a deep look into the structure of the skin and muscles. It is very important for me to keep my joints moving and in less pain. My shoulder is very painful to elevate, which is due to PsA affecting the joints and muscles. I know the shoulder had a ball and socket joints, for me it feels as if the ball joint is off its hinge. I recall the days when I would raise my arms and circle them around 25 times each in a circular motion, this is out of the question for me now. Right now the pain would be unbearable. Turning movement also affects my joints, lifting my arms horizontally is difficult. Slowly raising is painful. This is my day to day living with psoriatic arthritis.

I take full advantage of it when I get a break from the pain. I must say that I understand my pain and I live it daily, but it gives me great joy to help someone else understand the dynamics of it all.

I try to do things to ease the pain in my shoulder, focus on other things. Help someone else who is worse than myself. Finally, I thank the Lord for the gift of life and I keep on giving. This helps me tremendously to show love and to give back to others.

No two days are ever the same with psoriatic arthritis.