How to Treat Stone Man Syndrome
Stone man syndrome is a rare condition that occurs as a result of a genetic disorder. This condition can make the body's muscles and connective tissues such as ligaments and tendons slowly harden like a rock. Stone man syndrome can cause sufferers to gradually lose their ability to move. Then how to treat Stone Man syndrome? Check out the explanation in this article.
Causes of Stone Man Syndrome
Generally children have genes that can turn cartilage into bone. In normal genes, this development will stop when children grow up. However, this does not happen in patients with stone man syndrome. Stone man syndrome can occur due to genetic mutations in the ACVR1 gene. ACVR1 gene is one of the genes that controls the growth and development of muscles and bones.
Abnormalities in this genetic that cause bone growth to be uncontrollable and abnormal. As a result, bones can grow outside the skeleton and replace connective tissue such as muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Thus, muscles and body tissues that should be soft and flexible will become hard because it is replaced by bone tissue.
Stone man syndrome can be passed down from parents to their children. However, in some cases, there are also sufferers of stone man syndrome who in their families do not have a history of similar diseases both in parents and siblings.
Symptoms of Stone Man Syndrome
Symptoms of stone man syndrome can be known since the sufferer was a child. However, symptoms can appear at any time, even when the sufferer enters his teens. Some of the symptoms of stone man syndrome include:
Deformed toes
There is a deformity in the toes. Generally, people with stone man syndrome are born with toes that are larger than normal size. In addition, one or both thumbs appear crooked and short.
Pain in certain body parts
Usually when stone man syndrome starts to appear, the body will feel pain in certain parts such as the shoulders and neck. The pain can spread throughout the body, sometimes accompanied by swelling.
Lumps in certain parts of the body
Lumps appear like tumors in certain parts of the body such as the shoulders, neck and back. The lump is a sign that the soft bone tissue is starting to turn into bone. The lump grew quickly and was painful. The lumps that turn into bones will spread to all parts of the body and will last a lifetime.
Muscles stiffen
When the body's tissues have begun to harden into bone, the muscles and joints of people with stone man syndrome will become stiff. This is what makes it difficult for them to move or even completely unable to move.
In addition to some of the above symptoms of stone man syndrome, there may also be other symptoms such as low-grade fever and discomfort throughout the body. Some of these symptoms can last for 6–8 weeks until body tissues and lumps turn into bones.
How to Treat Stone Man Syndrome
If you experience symptoms of stone man syndrome, immediately come to the doctor. To ascertain your condition, the doctor may be able to carry out a series of examinations, both physical examinations and supporting examinations such as blood tests, X-rays, CT scans and genetic examinations.
Actually, stone man syndrome cannot be prevented and cannot be cured. Treatment and medication can only relieve symptoms, prevent new bone formation and improve the quality of life of sufferers.
If the results of a medical examination carried out by a doctor show that you have stone man syndrome, the doctor can provide treatment in the form of:
Give medicine
To reduce symptoms and inhibit disease progression, doctors may be able to give medicines such as corticosteroid. The function of the medicine is to reduce swelling and inflammation in the body so that body tissue does not quickly turn into bone.
In addition, doctors can also give muscle relaxants to relieve symptoms of muscle stiffness and pain relievers to relieve pain.
Also read articles about: How to Treat Muscle Atrophy
Occupational therapy and physiotherapy
Occupational therapy can be in the form of physical exercises that can help sufferers to be able to carry out their daily activities independently, such as walking, wearing clothes or eating. In addition, occupational therapy can also be done to guide sufferers to get used to using assistive devices.
Apart from undergoing occupational therapy, doctors may also recommend that patients undergo physiotherapy to relieve the symptoms they are experiencing and reduce damage to body tissues.
This is an explanation of how to treat stone man syndrome, I hope the above explanation can be useful.
