Polymyositis & Dermatomyositis Support Group

Polymyositis (PM) is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles (inflammatory myopathy) related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. The inflammation is predominantly of the endomysium in polymyositis, whereas dermatomyositis is characterized by primarily perimysial inflammation.

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bny806 01/12/2013

I have googled what the skin lesions of DM look like.. it looked like they are usually a bit red/pink in color, but I had a question.. for the past few years (since symptoms started), I noticed I have these flesh colored skin lesions on the top of my hands.. they are pretty small, hardly noticable, and very "flimsy" skin.. If i Scratch at them it's almost like a tiny blister the skin peels away.. I have gotten a few painful teeny tiny blisters on my fingers when symptoms were at their worst..

I keep my face out of the sun usually, but last weekend I got some sun (only on the side of my face).. and I got a lesion about 1,5cm in diameter that was red and scaley looking on the side of my face.. it was a little firm, and then went away .. ive had this happen a few times now, though never noticed the correlation with the sun).. Does DM get better or worse with UV exposure.. or no change!?

deleted_user 01/12/2013

My DM gets much much worse and at STanford DM clinic they advise against any sun exposure. Hats, sun screen and protective clothing are very important to them. In Lupus the Sun can cause DNA changes, so i expect they believe the same. I always get sick or rashy after a driving trip, or time in the sun, like a soccer tournament watching my kids, even with protection.
I try to keep my time outside to Sunrise and sunset. I also put a sun protective coating inside my car windows to protect me from the sun when running carpool. Good luck to you...

lexisgirl 01/12/2013

I have PM so I don't get the lesions but I notice a huge difference in how I feel if I am in the sun. I try really hard to avoid it. I swear SPF 85 sunscreen when I go outside (my son calls it SPF Vampire). I also try not to go out during the day and instead go out in the early morning or evening when the sun is less strong. After so many years, my skin is very pale but that is better than being sick and feeling crappy.

deleted_user 01/13/2013

Hello- the 'thin skin' issue can be a side effect of the prednisone, and sun sensitivity can be a side effect for certain drugs as well. I had very thin skin on my face when I was at high dose of prednisone, but now things are pretty back to normal, at low doses of pred.

autumm 01/13/2013

I find my skin is thin from taking Prednisolone and if I get an itch and scratch it i get a very unusual looking brown lesion which takes about two weeks to fade and go away. I found this quite scary at first as it would just appear. I think scratching thin skin causes it to bleed under eath the surface. So many issues with this disease !!!!! Autumm

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