Dermatomyositis is an inflammatory myopathy, or myositis. It causes muscle inflammation resulting in weakness and characteristic skin rashes.
What causes dermatomyositis is unknown. One theory is it’s an autoimmune disorder triggered by a bacterial, viral or parasitic infection.
Dermatomyositis is a rare connective tissue disease, mostly affecting 40s to early 60s women or 5 to 15 year old children.
The most distinguishing symptom of dermatomysitis is a skin rash that tends to be more purplish than reddish. This voracious rash is ordinarily observed on the:
- face
- knees
- elbows
- eyelids
- nail beds
- knuckles
Your skin eruptions are typically more sun sensitive. And you may experience swelling with your plum colored rash as well.
The other primary dermatomyositis symptom is progressive muscle weakness, particularly in your:
- hips
- neck
- thighs
- shoulders
- upper arms
Your insufficient strength can appear suddenly or develop slowly.
Dermatomyositis often makes a struggle out of raising your arms above your head, getting up from sitting or climbing. You could even have difficulty holding your head up.
Some other symptoms you may encounter with dermatomyositis are:
- fatigue
- myalgia
- dyspnea
- low fever
- dysphagia
- weight loss
- malnutrition
- lung problems
- gastrointestinal ulcers, infections
- calcinosis ~ hard calcium deposit bumps
Should you experience any of these dematomyositis symptoms, then get with your health care team for a diagnosis.
No cure yet for dermatomyositis. But early treatment tends to be more effective on its purplish skin rash and muscle weakness health manifestations.
Dermatomyositis initial treatment is frequently corticosteroids, like prednisone. This type of drug suppresses your immune system, which causes a reduction in skin and muscle inflammation.
Immunosuppresants are another form of drug treatment, either used solo or in combination. Antimalarial medications may be added if your purplish rash persists. And OTC pain relievers, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, may be recommended to treat any pain.
Your dermatomyositis may be associated with other health conditions, such as:
- lupus
- arthralgia
- myocarditis
- scleroderma
- heart arrhythmias
- rheumatoid arthritis
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- congestive heart failure
- interstitial lung disease
- Raynaud’s phenomenon
Adults suffering from dermatomyositis have an increased risk of cancer, particularly lung, breast, ovarian and gastrointestinal (stomach, colon) types.
Muscle weakness without the purplish skin rash symptom may be polymyositis, a similar health condition.