The skin is hard and the color is streaked? beware of skin disorders morphea!

What is morphea?

Morphea is a skin disorder that causes physical changes such as discoloration or hardening of the skin. The part of the skin that is affected by this disorder appears to have a paler color pattern or a reddish darker color so that your skin color looks mottled. Discoloration due to morphea is usually found on the skin around the stomach, chest, back, and also on the arms or legs. If it occurs in the joint area, morphea can also limit the moving capacity of the skin of the affected joint.

Morphea does not cause pain on the affected skin and can go away on its own, but it is very likely to recur. Skin discoloration caused by morphea can also disappear on its own but it takes a long time.

Although not too dangerous, there are therapeutic methods to treat the symptoms of morphea. Morphea is not caused by a bacterial infection, so this disorder is not transmitted to other people in any way, whether it's touch, air, or borrowing personal items.

Symptoms of morphea

Morphea is a disease that is easily recognized by the symptoms. However, the symptoms of morphea can vary from person to person. This depends on the type and level of disease progression. Some of the common symptoms of morphea are:

Symptoms of skin discoloration can start from pale skin with a whitish color in the middle of the discolored skin area.
Reddish discoloration with an oval pattern, especially on the skin on the body. Sometimes a purplish discoloration can also occur.
The pattern of change can also be elongated or linear when morphea appears on the arms or legs.
If the changes continue, the skin will get harder and feel thicker and look shiny.
The occurrence of hardening can be accompanied by the loss of hair (feathers) and damage to the sweat glands in the area of the skin that has morphea.
Morphea may also be accompanied by itching or burning, as if your skin is burning.

Symptoms such as discoloration of the skin can last for a long time before disappearing on their own. However, there is a risk of physical disability and impaired mobility if the morphea hits the skin around the joints. If it occurs in the area close to the eye, there is a risk of permanent eye damage or blindness.

Types of morphea

Based on the pattern of occurrence, morphea can be divided into four types. The following is an explanation of each type.

Plaque morphea is the most common form of morphea. Characterized by discoloration of the skin and lesions that are oval in shape. Morphea can cause itching.
Generalized plaque morphea wider spread than plaque morphea with more extensive lesions. Networks that experience this disorder also tend to be deeper so that it may affect a person's appearance.
Pansclerotic morpheais a rare morphea, but it needs serious handling. This occurs when the morphea spreads almost throughout the body in a short time.
Linear morphea occurs on the feet and hands in a smaller pattern than occurs on the surface of the body. The type of morphea that occurs in the limb organs can damage joints, lesions in skin tissue can also spread to muscle cells and cause disability.

Causes of morphea

Morphea is suspected to be an autoimmune disorder. However, this is not known with certainty by medical experts. This disorder occurs when the immune system attacks healthy skin cells, so that the body's cells produce more collagen-binding cells.

The collagen content that accumulates in the skin causes buildup and the skin becomes tougher. The process of excess collagen formation in certain parts of the skin can also be caused by repeated impacts or trauma to certain parts of the skin, side effects of radiation therapy, an infection that damages the surface of the skin, and exposure to substances from the environment that damage the skin directly.

Morphea was reported more by women than men. Usually, the early symptoms of morphea appear in childhood, starting from 2-14 years of age, but it can also appear in adults in middle age.

Diagnosis and treatment of morphea

Diagnosis of morphea is very important to determine treatment and prevent the disease from getting worse or causing disability. If you find a sudden change in skin color and spread quickly, see a doctor immediately. It is possible that the dermatologist can only determine the type of skin disease with a series of physical examinations.

To date, there is no 100 percent effective treatment to relieve the symptoms or effects of morphea. Handling places more emphasis on preventing the spread of morphea and reducing skin lesions.

If it affects other parts of the body as a complication, individual treatment of the affected organ may also be needed. Joint damage due to morphea can be done with corticosteroid drugs and physical therapy, while eye damage due to morphea requires separate action from an ophthalmologist.

Some treatment methods such as light therapy (phototherapy) and the use of creams containing vitamin D is used to relieve symptoms. Some things also need to be considered to relieve symptoms and speed up recovery, such as: