What is Granuloma Annulare?
This is a skin condition that is chronic and consists of raised, skin-colored or reddish bumps or lesions that develop ring patterns, normally on the hands, elbows, knees and feet.
These lesions can be very unsightly, but normally cause no additional symptoms and don’t have any lasting influence on an individual’s health. But, granuloma annulare is hard to deal with if the lesions affect the appearance.
In the majority of cases these lesions vanish on their own in 1 to 2 years. If an individual chooses treatment for cosmetic aims, your physician can prescribe corticosteroids which improve the looks of the bumps or lesions as well as speed disappearance of the condition.
Granuloma Annulare Symptoms
Granuloma annulare is normally marked by:
- Reddish, skin-colored and raised bump or lesions that can grow or can link to form patterns of a ring and are most common on the feet or hands. These patterns can resemble ringworm.
- Itching that is mild – This occurs in some individuals, however the lesions normally cause little to no itching or pain.
The lesions can be unsightly, but granuloma annulare normally causes no other symptoms or signs. The lesion can disappear and then recur at a future time.
An additional widespread and severe form of this disorder is known as “generalized granuloma annulare”. With this type of the disease, the rings develop over most of the body, lesions are frequently reduced and itching is very common.
An individual should call their primary care physician if the skin has reddish bump or lesions in ring shapes and do not go away in several weeks.
Granuloma Annulare Causes
The source of this skin condition is not known. Granuloma annulare is on occasion linked with diabetes mellitus as well as other diseases, but most often when the lesions or bumps are numerous or more generalized. The majority of individuals with granuloma annulare are usually healthy otherwise.
Though this condition can affect individuals of any sex or any age group, there are some generalities. Risk aspects include:
- Being female – women are 2x as likely to have this condition
- Being a young adult or child
You are at a much greater risk of having generalized or widespread granuloma annulare if:
- Over the age of 40
- Have diabetes mellitus or diseases of the thyroid, but medical professionals do not know the reason for these associations.
Granuloma Annulare Treatment
In the majority of cases, the primary care physician can diagnose this condition by merely examining the skin that is affected. In order to confirm a case of granuloma annulare or to rule out other skin problems, these tests can be recommended:
http://www.Symptoms-Causes-treatment.blogspot.com detect diseases at an early stage symptoms, and find out the causes and treatments best suited.
Skin biopsy
With this test, a small portion of the affected skin is removed. This sample is examined under a microscope by a specialist to confirm the diagnosis.
KOH test
The doctor scrapes the skin with a glass slide to gather some dead cells of skin. This sample is mixed with potassium hydroxide or KOH and examined under a microscope to aid in deciding if it could be an infection caused by fungus.
In the majority of cases, treatment is not needed for granuloma annulare. Most of the lesions will disappear within several months to a couple of years.
If the look of the rash bothers the individual, the doctor can endorse a treatment plan. This plan can include:
Corticosteroid ointments or creams
These medications may help to recover the appearance of the bumps or lesions as well as speed up their vanishing. Contingent on the lesion thickness and the cream strength, the doctor may advise you to protect the cream with adhesive patches or bandages. Covering any steroid cream can make it more effective.
Lesion freezing or cryotherapy
With cryotherapy, the physician applies nitrogen liquid to the areas which are affected using an applicator that is cotton-tipped or a tiny instrument intended for applying extreme cold – a device that sprays or a cryoprobe. This process normally lasts from only several seconds to 1 minute. The nitrogen liquid freezes these lesions, which aids to eliminate them as well as encourage new growth of cells in the skin.
Corticosteroid injections
If the skin bumps or lesions are thicker and the symptoms greater, the physician can inject corticosteroids – triamcinolone – directly into the skin that is affected to aid the lesions to disappear quicker.
Light therapy
With severe cases of “generalized granuloma annulare”, the physician can endorse a distinctive type of ultraviolet light treatment known as “psoralen plus ultraviolet A” – PUVA. This therapy associates the experience of ultraviolet light – phototherapy, with drugs referred to as psoralens. This helps make the skin more amenable to properties of the ultraviolet light.
Granuloma Annulare Cure
This skin disease will eventually disappear but it can become a chronic condition. Since granuloma annulare normally develops on the sun-exposed areas of the forearms or hands, protecting these areas from sun by limiting the exposure, cover with appropriate clothing or applying a high-quality sunscreen can also help.
Granuloma Annulare Pictures
on hands
