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Scleroderma: the types, the symptoms, getting a diagnosis, treatment, and living with it
For anyone whose skin is getting tight, hard or thick, anyone just told they have scleroderma, and the people beside them. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS, part of the NIH) says scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and thickening in the skin and other areas of the body. The localized type affects only the skin and what lies just under it; the systemic type is more serious and can damage the blood vessels, heart, lungs and kidneys. There is no cure, but treatment can help control the symptoms and limit damage, and early diagnosis and ongoing monitoring are important. This page passes on, by name, what NIAMS says: the types and the symptoms, who gets it and what may cause it, how it is diagnosed and who treats it, the treatment and the checks on the lungs, heart and kidneys, and what you can do day to day. It builds the words to say to a provider, and prints a card for the visit.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Chest pain, severe trouble breathing, fainting, or a sudden, severe headache: call 911 (ours).
- Blood pressure higher than usual: NIAMS says to call your doctor right away; with systemic scleroderma, a sudden rise can be a kidney emergency (renal crisis). If you cannot reach your doctor, go to an emergency room the same day (ours).
- New shortness of breath, a dry cough or swollen feet: NIAMS says to report them to your doctor. Thinking about suicide: call or text 988, any time (ours).
More help
- Related: Raynaud’s phenomenon · Lupus · A rash, an itch, or something on the skin: find the right page.
- Body: Blood pressure log · Heartburn · Dental care.
- Habits and feelings: When you want to quit smoking · Depression.
- Day to day: Symptom diary · My medicines list.
- Care and costs: When you need a doctor and can’t pay · When medicine costs too much · Get ready for your appointment.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 15, 2026 on NIAMS’s Scleroderma page, both parts: Overview, Symptoms, & Causes and Diagnosis, Treatment, & Steps to Take (NIH, last reviewed September 2023), and on its shorter Spanish twin, Esclerodermia (April 2020). Ours: calling 911 for chest pain, severe trouble breathing, fainting, or a sudden, severe headache; going to an emergency room the same day if your blood pressure is higher than usual and you cannot reach your doctor; seeing a provider soon for skin that is getting tight or hard; writing down changes and taking photos; telling a provider about close relatives with it and chemicals at work; not stopping or changing a medicine on your own, steroids included; asking what a test or treatment would change and what it costs; 988; and the order of the steps. What we left out: the names of any medicine, any brand or dose, any supplement, remedy or product, and NIAMS’s research pages. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.