Scleroderma
What is scleroderma?
The word sclerosis means a hardening of body tissue. Scleroderma is a disorder where the skin and connective tissue become hard and tight.
There are several types of scleroderma; they are divided into to main types, localized scleroderma and systemic sclerosis or systemic scleroderma. This diagram from the NIAMS website shows you how they are divided:
How badly you are affected depends on where on the body you are affected and how the disease is progressing. As a rule, localized scleroderma is found more often in children and systemic in adults. More women get scleroderma than do men, about 75% of people with scleroderma are women.
You can read more about the different types of scleroderma at the NIAMS site, at the link listed below in the more information section.
Doctors don’t know yet what causes scleroderma but it’s likely an autoimmune disease, like arthritis and lupus. Because there are many more women than men who have the disease, some researchers are looking into hormones to see if there may be a cause there.
What are the symptoms?
Sceroderma usually starts with dry patches of skin. These patches can get larger, get thick, hard, and shiny.
Depending on the type of scleroderma, some symptoms could be:
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Pain and swelling in the joints
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Numbness and change in skin color on the fingers and toes, as well as nose, cheeks, and ears.
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Swelling in the hands and feet
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Sores on the elbows, knees, knuckles
Why does it cause pain?
The pain comes from the stiffening of the body tissue as they become more difficult to move as needed.
What can be done?
There is no cure for scleroderma yet. For localized scleroderma and patches on the skin, sometimes a cream, like a steroid cream, can help relieve the discomfort. Some medications may help with the blood circulation if you have a systemic scleroderma. Some patients manage with medications usually given for arthritis, as they can help reduce the inflammation and reduce the pain.
For more in-depth information, here are some sites that have reliable and up-to-date information:
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases
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