5 Ways Lupus Can Harm Your Skin And Things You Can Do to Stop It

October has traditionally been designated as Lupus Awareness Month for at least 30 years or more, but it has become overshadowed by the attention given to support Breast Cancer Awareness so that you don’t hear about it anymore.

I have a question for you. Are you aware of the fact that over 1.5 million individuals in the United States are affected by Lupus?

As a dermatologist, I frequently see individuals with a variety of skin concerns that can lead to an oftentimes unexpected diagnosis of lupus.

For example, a 22 year female who was a recent college graduate came to the office with a concern about hair loss which had been attributed to damage from her hair styling techniques or a “bad perm”. During the course of examining her hair and scalp, I noticed that the skin was thickened and the scalp was discolored in the areas where the hair was missing. After she agreed to my suggestion of having a biopsy done on her scalp, the procedure was performed and the specimen submitted for laboratory evaluation. She was quite surprised to learn that her hair was coming out because of lupus.

Another patient came in because of red nodules on the arms and chest that were bothersome. Again, it was necessary to obtain a specimen of skin to make a diagnosis and the results revealed a form of lupus.

In addition to the skin, lupus can have an effect on the joints, internal organs such as the kidneys, heart, or brain as well as the various blood cells and immune systems of the body. Due to the vague way lupus develops, it is not uncommon for it to take two or more years of evaluation before an individual can be finally diagnosed with this condition.

Here is a list of some of the things you should be aware of related to how lupus can affect the skin:

1. Sensitivity to sunlight that causes rashes on the face, neck, or exposed areas of the arms
2. Patchy areas of scaling with dark coloration inside of the ears
3. Sensitivity of the hands and fingers to cold associated with color changes so that the fingers are red, puffy, and sometimes blue with areas of breakdown and sores on the fingertips
4. Patches of hair loss with thickening and discoloration of the scalp
5. Persistent redness of the cheeks and mid-facial area sometimes associated with areas of scarring

While these are some of the ways lupus can harm your skin and lead you to seek medical care, there is a wide variety of less common changes that can develop.

Once lupus is diagnosed, there are several key factors to protecting your skin and limiting the damage that occurs.

1. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen that blocks UVA and UVB to protect all sun exposed areas daily from the sunlight since direct or indirect sunlight (through windows indoors) can aggravate lupus.
2. Get treatment as early as possible and stick with the treatment until the healing process is complete to minimize scarring.
3. Get plenty of rest. Lupus is one of those conditions aggravated by fatigue and tiredness.
4. Get yearly physicals and blood work to monitor what is happening with your body and avoid any surprise abnormalities that go unattended to

I spend a significant amount of time researching and focusing on identifying and recommending the best health aids possible, but there are times when you can do everything right to have good health and diseases can show up any way.

Lupus is one of those conditions that can show up because of genetic factors and other still to be determined causes even if you eat based upon a sound nutrition plan and you do the right thing.