What do scleroderma skin patches look like?

These patches may be shaped like ovals or straight lines, or cover wide areas of the trunk and limbs. The number, location and size of the patches vary by type of scleroderma. Skin can appear shiny because it’s so tight, and movement of the affected area may be restricted.

Can scleroderma cause dark spots on skin?

The patches of hardened skin can be lighter or darker than your natural skin color. Some people develop violet-colored skin, which means that the scleroderma is active and expanding.

Does scleroderma cause hyperpigmentation?

People with scleroderma have areas of skin that become hard and leathery (indurated). These areas of hardness are widespread and typically appear on both sides of the body. Eventually, tissue loss (atrophy) occurs and the skin becomes more highly colored (hyperpigmentation).

How does scleroderma affect the face?

The skin thickening that accompanies systemic scleroderma can cause tightening so there is a loss of flexibility and ease of movement, especially in the fingers. Facial involvement is common and may be mild or it can reduce facial movements, including decreasing the mouth opening.

What does thickened skin look like?

When you continually scratch an area of skin or it is rubbed for a prolonged period of time, your skin cells begin to grow. This leads to a thickening of the skin and an exaggeration of normal skin markings — such as cracks, wrinkles, or scales — that gives your skin a leathery or bark-like appearance.

Does your skin burn with scleroderma?

Erythromelalgia is a rare type of blood vessel disease whose symptoms include flare-ups of burning pain in the hands and feet, and less commonly in the arms, legs, and face. The disease can occur alongside systemic scleroderma.

Does scleroderma make you look younger?

As the result, the severity of wrinkles, texture and pores were significantly lower in SSc patients than control subjects. Among them, wrinkles showed better correlation with skin thickness score. Therefore, increased amount of collagen in scleroderma skin may directly affect wrinkles.

What is the scleroderma skin pinch test?

As discussed above, patients with scleroderma who have Raynaud’s phenomenon will have characteristic features seen on nailfold capillaroscopy, a simple noninvasive test that looks at the skin near the base of the fingernail with a magnifier to determine if there is capillary (small blood vessels in the skin) loss or …

Is the sun bad for scleroderma?

Scleroderma: Although certain types of UV light are used as a treatment to lessen skin thickening, some scleroderma patients are photosensitive and develop rashes or sunburns quickly. UV light can also worsen the hyperpigmentation (darkening) of scleroderma skin.

What are the early signs of scleroderma?

Two of the symptoms listed above are often early signs of scleroderma. The fingers may become: Highly sensitive to the cold and change color with cold or emotional stress (the symptoms of Raynaud’s phenomenon) These symptoms happen because the blood vessels narrow due to spasm.

How many scleroderma stock photos and illustrations are available?

1,227 scleroderma stock photos, vectors, and illustrations are available royalty-free.

How does scleroderma affect the internal organs of the body?

Treatment is available. This is often an early warning that scleroderma affects the internal organs. The medical name for this symptom is Raynaud’s phenomenon. It causes certain parts of your body, usually the fingers, toes, ears, or tip of your nose to feel cold and go numb in cold temperatures or when you feel stressed.

Can scleroderma cause dry skin itches?

Scleroderma causes extremely dry skin, and dry skin itches. The extreme dryness can cause the skin to breakdown and sores can form.