What Are the Main Scleroderma Symptoms?
Scleroderma a disease of the connective tissue that is autoimmune in nature.
The problem with scleroderma is that your own body's immune system is attacking your own tissues.
Fibrotic or scar tissues form in the tissues that are attacked by the immune cells, leading to thickness and firmness on the affected areas.
This often results to loss of function of that affected organ.
The reason for the attack is unknown, although heredity plays an important factor in getting the disease.
Genes give you the predisposition of getting the disease, but your environment can be a triggering factor.
It is difficult to know at first if you have scleroderma.
Scleroderma symptoms vary on the type of organ that is affected, causing either localized or systemic changes in the body.
Scleroderma symptoms often include: - Itchy skin - Raynaud's phenomenon: numbness, tingling sensation, and change in temperature and color are often experienced in the toes and fingers due to an exaggerated vascular response to stress and extreme temperatures.
- Pain and stiffness felt around the joints - Heartburn - Dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing - Diarrhea - Constipation - Fatigue - Weakness - Shortness of breath These scleroderma symptoms can be vague and your doctor may disregard your symptom for other conditions, or wait for other signs of scleroderma to make a definitive diagnosis.
Signs of scleroderma include: - The skin on your hands, face, and feet gradually becomes hard, thick and tight.
- These changes on your skin often result to a shiny sheen - The gradual tightening of the hands eventually lead to sclerodactly, where the skin is so tight that the mobility of your joints gradually diminishes and your hands will assume a shape of a hoe.
- Red spots can appear on your face, hands, palms, forearms, face, lips and tongue.
This sign is called telangiectasia.
Prognosis is good if you experience scleroderma symptoms that involve the skin for 3 years.
This means there is less danger of internal organ involvement as the disease is limited to the skin.
Research is still being done to fully understand scleroderma to come up with an effective treatment regimen, especially those with multiple-organ involvement.
The problem with scleroderma is that your own body's immune system is attacking your own tissues.
Fibrotic or scar tissues form in the tissues that are attacked by the immune cells, leading to thickness and firmness on the affected areas.
This often results to loss of function of that affected organ.
The reason for the attack is unknown, although heredity plays an important factor in getting the disease.
Genes give you the predisposition of getting the disease, but your environment can be a triggering factor.
It is difficult to know at first if you have scleroderma.
Scleroderma symptoms vary on the type of organ that is affected, causing either localized or systemic changes in the body.
Scleroderma symptoms often include: - Itchy skin - Raynaud's phenomenon: numbness, tingling sensation, and change in temperature and color are often experienced in the toes and fingers due to an exaggerated vascular response to stress and extreme temperatures.
- Pain and stiffness felt around the joints - Heartburn - Dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing - Diarrhea - Constipation - Fatigue - Weakness - Shortness of breath These scleroderma symptoms can be vague and your doctor may disregard your symptom for other conditions, or wait for other signs of scleroderma to make a definitive diagnosis.
Signs of scleroderma include: - The skin on your hands, face, and feet gradually becomes hard, thick and tight.
- These changes on your skin often result to a shiny sheen - The gradual tightening of the hands eventually lead to sclerodactly, where the skin is so tight that the mobility of your joints gradually diminishes and your hands will assume a shape of a hoe.
- Red spots can appear on your face, hands, palms, forearms, face, lips and tongue.
This sign is called telangiectasia.
Prognosis is good if you experience scleroderma symptoms that involve the skin for 3 years.
This means there is less danger of internal organ involvement as the disease is limited to the skin.
Research is still being done to fully understand scleroderma to come up with an effective treatment regimen, especially those with multiple-organ involvement.
