Understanding Scleroderma - Symptoms

The symptoms of scleroderma vary widely among individuals. The most common symptom is tightening, hardening, or thickening of the skin on the arms, legs, hands, feet, and face. The skin continues to thicken during the first two to three years of the disease. Thickening then ceases and may even recede.

Symptoms of scleroderma may include:

• Gradual tightening and thickening of the skin.
• Swelling, stiffness, or pain in the fingers, toes, hands, feet, or face.
• Tingling, numbness, or puffiness of the skin.
• Skin discoloration.
• Small white bumps under the surface of the skin.
• Cold sensitivity and a bluish or reddish tint in the hands and feet (called Raynaud's syndrome).
• Red spots on the fingers, palms, face, lips, or tongue, from permanently dilated tiny blood vessels (called telangiectasias).
• Ulcers or sores on fingertips, knuckles, or elbows.
• Brittle bones that may easily break.
• Loss of the skin's ability to stretch.
• Itching.
• Muscle weakness.
• Fatigue.
• Curling of the fingers.
• Digestive problems such as heartburn, trouble swallowing, or delayed movement of food due to impaired muscle activity in the intestines.
• Loss of hand function because of skin tightening on fingers and hands.
• Shortness of breath, possibly from heart or lung damage.

Limited Scleroderma (CREST syndrome)

Five symptoms that may occur together have been recognized as a variation of the disease called limited scleroderma or CREST syndrome. The acronym CREST stands for:

• Calcinosis (painful calcium deposits in the skin).
• Raynaud's syndrome (abnormal blood flow in the hands and feet in response to cold or stress).
• Esophageal dysfunction (problems with swallowing caused by scarring in the esophagus).
• Sclerodactyly (tightening of the skin on the fingers or toes).
• Telangiectasias (red spots on the hands, palms, forearms, face, and lips).

People with CREST syndrome generally have a relatively milder form of systemic scleroderma.

Call Your Doctor If:

• You notice tightening, thickening, or hardening of your skin.
• You have unexplained swelling of the fingers, toes, hands, feet, or face.
• You have tingling, numbness, puffiness, or skin discoloration.
• You have small white bumps under the surface of your skin.
• You develop unusual sensitivity to cold in your hands and feet.
• You develop red spots on your fingers, palms, face, lips, or tongue.
• You get ulcers or sores on your fingertips, knuckles, or elbows.