Impaired skin etc. healing/bruising in HMS?

[hannah]

Hi,
(if this is in the wrong place, please move it)
When I was diagnosed with HMS the Rheumy said yes you have HMS, and then proceeded to give me no further information about it, so I thought I'd ask the experts

Does HMS mean that I heal slower than 'normals' (those lesser mortals). - I mean that if I get a large cut, or have to have surgery might I get complications/take longer to heal, or does this only occur in those who have EDS, or only some people with HMS?

It's just a theoretical question because I am still trying to sort everything out in my head and gradually make sense of this rather individual body I live in. (no thanks to the rheumy, lots of thanks to these boards )

[sanguine_emma]

Does HMS mean that I heal slower than 'normals' (those lesser mortals). - I mean that if I get a large cut, or have to have surgery might I get complications/take longer to heal, or does this only occur in those who have EDS, or only some people with HMS?

Hi hannah,

Yes. We're all different, and have different levels of skin involvement. My skin seems quite normal, not that stretchy and it heals OK. I bruise a bit easily, but that's all. Others have a lot of difficulty in this department. WHat a shame that doctors feel the need to pack you off with a diagnosis and no further information. Still, that's the purpose of these boards I guess! hope this helps,

Emma xx

[cocol]

Hannah,

My skin, for example, heals very slowly, it is very thin and I bruise very easily. This is no problem, only a slight annoyance when it's sunny and I want to wear skirts I've had surgery in both my knees and got the wisdom teeth removed and I healed ok and the scar on my knees is very small. I was just thinking that I cut myself about 2 weeks ago and the cut hasn't healed completely, just an example.

Do not worry!

[Sue New]

Hi There,

Just to add in my experience, my skin has always been soft and prone to bruising and poor wound healing, but it seems to have got worse in recent years (since I beacame menopausal).

When I had my last surgery back in January, the op was nearly cancelled on the day as I had an open cut/sore on my big toe that had been there for over a month. It has just about healed over now but you can still see a red scar where it was even now.

A week after my op I was doing some trigger point therapy on my leg (as my physio had instructed me) and where I pressed too hard, my fingernail broke the skin - that was over 3 months ago and the skin still has not healed over.

My surgical scars are also more prominent than other people's I have seen who have had the same ops as me, and when I had my Hysterectomy the wound split open in early recovery and is still very wide and raised - nearly 2 years after the procedure!!

I should point out Hannah that I have been diagnosed with EDS so my skin problems may be more extreme than yours. We are all different so I don't want to over worry you - this is just my personal experience.

Take care

Sue.

[Retro]

Hi Sue, have you tried these new silver plastersthat are supposed to promote healing? I haven't yet but keep meaning to get some.

There are also now plasters that are supposed to help old and new scars to look better, must get some of them too but they seem really expensive.

Hope all is ok with you and you're feeling a bit better.

Painfree Lindsey

[Sue New]

Hi Retro,

Thanks very much for the link but I am allergic to all metals except gold so I don't think they would be of any use . Even if I wear a normal plaster after a blood test I invariably come up in a rash (I keep meaning to remind the nurses i am allergic to plasters, but keep forgeting ).

Take care,

Sue.

[Sue New]

Hi There,

Just following on from this thread, I went to my GP today to discuss some other things and asked in passing if he could recommend anything for a wound I have at the moment that has got slightly infected and just will not scar over, it started off as just a small cut and is now like a fairly big crater (unfortunatly it is on my breast so it keeps getting irritated by my bra) around outside it is all red and inflamed - not very nice . Anyway, I now have an appointment with the nurse specialist at our practise to get the wound dressed with some special dressing that apparently helps to promote wound healing - I am not sure what it is exactly, but I will let you all know more after I have seen her. I also showed the GP some of my other scars/wounds that don't seem to be healing at the moment - the one on my leg is still there after 4 months and I think he was quite interseted and thinks it is obviously to do with the EDS and weak connective tissue. Hopefully I can get the nurse to give me some spares dressings in case I get any more wounds that won't heal. The GP told me to avoid gardening and other things where I could cut myself and I had to explain that I can't do gardening or any thing else for that matter - it takes all my strength jsut to manage 5 hours at work each day .

Bye for now

Sue

[Sandy L]

Impaired healing is associated with at least some forms of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is one of the more common causes of HMS.

[Fiona-Jane]

hiya. im curious....

ive read that translucent skin is a symptom of EDS and ive noticed that the veins etc are rather visable under my skin.

so my question- how translucent is normal skin? is my skin translucent or is it just normal? photo also shows my random chickenpox scars and my haemangioma scar on my neck (as it's just my 'random skin' composition).

link to a photo- link

mod edit - link fix

fi xx

[Sue New]

Hi Fi,

My veins look like this too, particularly over my chest and shoulders and the inside of my arms. It's diffuicult for me to say if it is "normal" or not. My Mum also has visibale veins over her chest and tells me it is nothing to worry about, but then, I may have inherited the EDS from her

It may be worth collating a few pictures like this to take with you to show the orthopaedic consultant on the 24th to give him an overall idea of your skin issues . Last time I saw Dr Hakim at UCLH I took some pictures of various slow healing scars etc and he said they were all classic examples of the skin componant of EDS.

I have just tried to take some pictures of my transluscent veins but with the flash they did not come out very well. I will try to take some more during natural daylight tomorrow.

Take care,

Sue.

[Sue New]

Hi Again ,

Just did some surfing on the net and found this link regarding visible veins:

link to ednf.org

Take care,

Sue.

mod edit link fix

[Fiona-Jane]

my first set of pictures didnt come out so i turned on the main lights in my bedroom and turned off the flash. my veins are more visable than they are in the photos, and my brother has the same visable veins (but no other HMS/EDS symptoms). i tried to search the net to find out how visable veins are supposed to be but didnt find any useful info. my friends have veins that are like straws under the skin, they kinda stick up but with no blue colour. and although they have a few visable veins they havent as many as i have!


im just a bit curious.... its definatly something im gonna add to the list of stuff i give to the consultant!

fi xx

[shen]

i've just been diagnosed with EDS aswell as HMS and fibromyalgia. my skin is pretty thin and you can see my viens quite well, tho not as much as on thoe pictures here. what got me diagnosed is that the whites on my eyes are light blue (like a babys) beucase the mebrane (?) is so thin. plus i bruise so easily, scar easily (Still have scars from stuff i did when i was 3/4years old) and pretty stretchy skin.

[Sue New]

Me again ,

Here's another link that has a picture very similar to Fi's:

Link to photo

(perhaps one of the Mods would be kind enough to tidy up the link for me - thanks)

Consider it done

Sue.

[Dusty]

I look so similar it's scary!

I'm REALLY see through, I always joke...I'm not pale, not white but BLUE!

I have the veinly old hands of a 70 year old. Stuff having a facelift when I'm older, I'll have a handlift LOL.