It’s Men’s Health Month & today is World Scleroderma Day so we are going to shine a light on scleroderma in men. Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease that attacks the connective tissue beneath the skin and surrounding internal organs causing scarring and thickening of the tissue.
SSc usually presents between 30-50 years of age and although it is less common in men than women, men have a more severe expression of the disease including internal organ-based complications and higher mortality with significantly reduced survival at 5 and 10 years after onset.
Massage, as part of a multimodal approach to scleroderma treatment, helps to increase blood circulation, manage pain and could potentially delay the worsening of symptoms.