Nail Pitting, will it get worse?

[MUH24]

Hey everyone, I am a healthy 21 year old male with pretty much no history of any kind of health problems. About 6 months ago my right ring fingernail began pitting and has been ever since. It doesnt cause any discomfort, and the pitting seemed to be much more pronounced initially than it is now (only noticeable at close inspection). For this reason, I never went to a doctor or anything about it.

About 2 months ago, pitting began on my left ring and pinky fingernails (simultaneously I believe, at least within a few days of eachother). The pinky nail doesnt really look so bad, but the ring finger was initially pretty bad. No discomfort, just crazy pitting. With time the severity of pitting on this nail has gone down, and I think that eventually it will reach the same mildness as the right ring fingernail. No discoloration, just slight texturing.

After the second and third nails I decided to do a little research and figured out that psoriasis seemed the most likely candidate. I happen to be very close friends with an excellent rheumy in Atlanta, so I sent him some pictures (Im out of the country till Dec), and his best guess is indeed psoriasis.

So I am asking all of you on this forum if any of you have had similar experiences? Will all of my nails eventually submit to the P? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? Might I eventually begin to develop symptoms in areas other than my nails? I dont think I have a family history of P. I have good skin for the most part, but I do occasionally get temporary (less than an hour) red rashes on my skin from too much sun or really hot saunas, but Ive always assumed that was normal. My skin also gets red for a few minutes in an area that I scratch myself, but thats also pretty normal I thought...

Anyhoo, and helpful info would be greatly appreciated!

C

[ouchyk]

Hi,

http://www.psoriasis.org/about/psoriasis/sites/nails.php

My pitting went away on Enbrel and has been kept at bay by Humira. No two patients are ever alike so it's hard to know what your nails will do!

Karen

p.s. on a bio for moderate-severe PA.

[RichJ]

hi muh24,
sorry i can't help much but welcome to the p family. you have met some of the wonderful people on here and will find alot of great info. welcome and nice to meet you.

try and have a good day all

richard

[easydoesit]

My nails got progressively worse over the course of probably 3 years after I first started noticing pitting until they were all affected to some degree but then the pitting and ridging levelled off to a constant amount. The pitting for me came after I started having some areas of psoriasis on my skin.

Psoriasis seems to be totally unpredictable so it's hard to say how it might go for you but I would not be surprised if it continued until you had it in all your nails, including your toenails. I also would not be totally surprised if it disappeared completely, then reappeared later. You never know with psoriasis. It runs in my family but those of us that have it each have had different experiences with it (I'm the only one to have the arthritis for example).

And yes it could be an indication that you will start to develop the skin disease and possibly the arthritis (which is often associated with the nail pitting), but I don't want to scare you. Just keep an eye on it and try to get a firm diagnosis when you can.

[ldowney]

My nail pitting always coincides with a flare up, so its interesting that you had increased pitting but no other outward signs of P.

But in any case, my pitting comes and goes. I have a huge pit right now on my right index finger that coincided with my last flare up (its almost to the top of the nail now).

[DottieD]

Greetings -
I have had the same experience as the last 2 threads above: that pitting comes and goes, and usually coincides with a flare up.

I hope that your problem doesn't go any farther than your nails. May I suggest that you refrain from scratching as much as posible, because red skin indicates inflammation (even if it is temporary), and psoriasis is an inflammatory disease. You wouldn't want to take a chance on triggering a skin problem! How about using a moisturizing lotion and keeping some anti-itch cream around for when you may need it?

Best wishes, DottieD