Phil Mickelson‘s career faced a significant challenge when he was first diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis a decade ago. Despite the pain, he has continued to grace the greens throughout these years. But what exactly is psoriatic arthritis, and is it curable?

Back in 2010, four days before the US Open, Mickelson felt an unusual pain in his tendons and joints. Initially, he thought of it to be a normal pain, but it started to get worse. Lefty then took some anti-inflammatory medications and also did some stretching to keep the pain under control. After his diagnosis, he received the unfortunate news that he had psoriatic arthritis. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system misfires against its own joints and tendons, causing inflammation and pain.

Unfortunately, it’s a “really incurable condition,” as Dr. Bruce E. Strober, the co-director of the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Center at New York University Medical Center, revealed. Before the diagnosis report, the golfer was asked about the pain, and he said in an interview with Golf Channel, “I went and laid down on the couch, and it hurt so bad to move.” He was concerned about his golf career at that moment and said, “Thereafter, I went to try to play golf, and the pain had gone to my shoulder. I couldn’t take the club back halfway. And I was concerned about the impact on my golf career.” 

The condition usually affects individuals between the ages of 30 and 55, regardless of gender. Some common symptoms are redness, warmth, or swelling in the joints. One can indeed control the pain and inflammation with medication. However, Phil Mickelson doesn’t do anything like that, as revealed on the MyPsoriasisTeam website. If not medication, how does he manage his health?

Phil Mickelson’s diet plays a huge role in psoriasis-arthritis

Mickelson worked with his performance coach Dave Phillips, and they developed a fitness regimen, including some changes to his diet. Yes, exercise is important, but diet contributes about 60–70% to one’s overall health, and it’s no different for the LIV golfer. In 2020, Lefty shared that he now avoids diet soda, sugar, and similar items.

“I wasn’t educated. I either wasn’t aware or didn’t want to know the things I was putting in my body, whether it was diet soda and how toxic that is, or whether it was the amount of sugar and how much inflammation it causes, or whether it was the quantity; all of those things, I just kind of shut my eyes to.”

Some health experts have also confirmed that maintaining a healthy diet while consuming sufficient macro- and micronutrients can help reduce pain. Not only that, the golfer also practices intermittent fasting once in a while. The 6x major winner once revealed to Golf Magazine that he does three-day fasts every few months.

What do you think of Phil Mickelson’s psoriasis arthritis and his way of managing his health? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!