Dermatomyositis is an uncommon inflammatory muscular disease, which involves the degeneration of collagen, discoloration and swelling of the skin and underlying muscle. Dermatomyositis is known by it’s distinctive skin rash and muscle weakness. Dermatomyositis affects children and adults, but it usually affects children between the ages of five and fifteen, and it occurs in adults in their late forties through sixties. Dermatomyositis is also more commonly found in females than males. The cause of dermatomyositis is unknown, but it is believed to be similar to autoimmune disorders where a person’s immune system accidently attacks its own body tissue. Dermatomyositis partially affects the small blood vessels in the muscle tissue, because inflammatory cells surround the blood vessels, which eventually causes the degeneration of muscle fibers. Some of the complications caused by dermatomyositis include: difficulty to swallowing due to affected muscles in the esophagus, aspiration pneumonia where one breathes foods into their lungs because they have difficulty swallowing, breathing problems due to affected chest muscles, and also calcium deposits that can develop in the muscles, skin, and connective tissues. Dermatomyositis can also lead to the following diseases: Raynaud 's phenomenon, lupus, …show more content…
A rash for dermatomyositis can be a violet-colored or dusty red rash that appears most commonly on a person’s face or eyelids, but it can also be found around a person’s nails, knuckles, elbows, back, chest and knees. Most of the time the first visual sign of dermatomyositis is a patchy bluish-purplish rash. Another sign of dermatomyositis is the progressive weakening of the muscles closest to the trunk of the body, such as: the hips, thighs, shoulders, upper arms, and neck. Over time this pain will gradually worsen, so the weakness will affect both the right and left sides of the