What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Morgellons Disease
The most characteristic symptom of individuals with Morgellons disease is a sensation of filaments, fibres or spheres extruding from the skin generating uncomfortable lesions. Affected individuals may present to the doctor with a collection of these fibres for examination or may actively pick at these lesions with tweezers.
So-called fibres picked out of the skin
What Are Treatments For Morgellons
There is currently no standard treatment for MD. Your doctor will evaluate your individual symptoms to determine appropriate treatment.
Treatment may focus on symptoms and underlying conditions. These treatments can include:
- antibiotics, to treat bacterial infection
- topical skin treatments, to help heal lesions
These are some other questions people often ask about Morgellons. Megan Soliman, M.D., reviewed the answers.
Fiberglass Itch When To See A Doctor
If you do not work with fiberglass regularly, doing a simple job with fiberglass should not be a problem. Just follow the rules and tips in order to prevent a fiberglass itch. People who work with fiberglass every day might see a few more problems.
In either case, if you find that you have tried everything recommended and you are still experiencing a fiberglass skin irritation, it could be some fibers still sticking around, or it could be contact dermatitis. If the problem persists, you should seek out medical advice.
A fiberglass itch remedy will be most welcome in this case. After removing the fine fiberglass splinters, you might have to apply a steroid ointment, which will help to prevent infection and also aids in reducing any inflammation. A doctor may also prescribe some antihistamines.
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Coping With Morgellons Disease
Researchers and doctors often disagree about MD, and theres still a lot to discover about the disease. The controversy and limited understanding of the condition can make it especially hard to cope with it.
It can be helpful connect and share information with others who also have MD. Support groups and other resources can help you stay up to date on current research about MD, give you advice on how to manage it, and provide a community of people with similar experiences.
Support groups may be online or in-person, and a couple of examples include:
How Do Doctors Diagnose Morgellons
It may be difficult for your doctor to diagnose you with MD, since there is ongoing debate about how to classify the condition.
Your doctor may order a blood test or a skin biopsy if you have itchy skin or wounds that do not heal. This can help determine if you have a bacterial infection. If fibers are present in your skin, your doctor may take a sample for further testing.
If your physician thinks there may be a psychological component to your symptoms, they may refer you to a psychologist or another mental health professional for further evaluation.
You may receive a Morgellons diagnosis after your doctor rules out other possible causes of your symptoms.
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Morgellons Somatoform Disorder And Delusional Infestation
People with somatic disorders tend to by hyper-aware of normal body sensations — and they tend to interpret these sensations as medical illness. This stress has real physical effects on the body and leads to a spiral of worsening physical symptoms and psychological health. Psychotherapy is far more likely to be successful than medication in breaking this cycle.
Pearson and colleagues suggest that since they cannot find a common cause of Morgellons disease, patients should get “standard therapies for co-existing medical conditions and/or those recommended for similar conditions such as delusional infestation.”
Patients who are convinced they are infested with parasites often respond to treatment with antidepressant or antipsychotic medication.
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How To Remove Fiberglass From The Eyes
The fiberglass fibers are quite small and can, therefore, get into the eyes quite easily. The fibers can get stuck in the eyeball, underneath the eyelids and also lodge in the corners of the eye. This can be painful, causing irritation and redness.
Of, course, it is natural to want to scratch your eye. You mustnt scratch your eye, as this could cause damage. You will need to clean your eye out, and this should be done by a medical professional.
When working with fiberglass, and you do not wear any protective eye gear, make sure to rinse your eyes out even if there is no immediate irritation after you have finished your work. The lesson here is, always wear protective gear.
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How Is Morgellons Disease Treated
Suitable, effective treatment options for MD are still unknown. The controversy and lack of understanding around the disease can also make it difficult to get treatment.
If your doctor thinks MD is caused by an infection, they may give you antibiotics and ointments to reduce itching. Since many people with MD have anxiety or depression as well, your treatment may also include mental health medications or counseling.
On the other hand, if your doctor believes the condition is related to a mental health issue, theyll likely recommend psychiatric medications or therapy.
Research has suggested that a holistic approach that treats both the skin disease and your mental health may have positive results.
For the best outcome, its important to establish a strong, long-term relationship with a doctor who listens to your concerns.
Morgellons Disease: A Filamentous Borrelial Dermatitis
Accepted for publication 15 September 2016
14 October 2016Volume 2016:9 Pages 349354
Video abstract presented by Raphael B Stricker
Views: 32914
Marianne J Middelveen, Raphael B Stricker International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, Bethesda, MD, USA Abstract: Morgellons disease is a dermopathy characterized by multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin. Although MD was initially considered to be a delusional disorder, recent studies have demonstrated that the dermopathy is associated with tickborne infection, that the filaments are composed of keratin and collagen, and that they result from proliferation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts in epithelial tissue. Culture, histopathological and molecular evidence of spirochetal infection associated with MD has been presented in several published studies using a variety of techniques. Spirochetes genetically identified as Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto predominate as the infective agent in most of the Morgellons skin specimens studied so far. Other species of Borrelia including Borrelia garinii, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Borrelia hermsii have also been detected in skin specimens taken from MD patients. The optimal treatment for MD remains to be determined. Keywords: Morgellons disease, dermatitis, Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, spirochetes
Introduction
Histopathology of MD
Association of MD with Borrelia infection
Historical view of MD
MD and psychiatric diagnoses
Treatment of MD
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Cdc: Morgellons Disease May Be Psychiatric Disorder
Mysterious Morgellons Skin Fibers: Only Cotton From Clothing?
Jan. 26, 2012 — Extensive study of people suffering from Morgellons disease — including analysis of their mysterious “skin fibers” — finds no underlying cause of the illness.
Morgellons symptoms are as creepy as the name implies. Patients report slow-to-heal sores that often feel like bugs are crawling under their skin. They often scratch themselves raw. And they also report that mysterious colored fibers, granules, worms, eggs, fuzzballs, or other stuff comes out of their skin.
The CDC study was launched in 2008 at the request of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein because of a rash of Morgellons reports in that state.
The findings do not rule out the possibility that Morgellons is a newly recognized disease, note CDC researcher Michele L. Pearson, MD, and colleagues in the online journal PLoS One.
But after performing detailed examinations of patients, running blood and urine tests, analyzing skin biopsies and “fiber” particles, conducting psychological examinations, and looking for disease clusters, the researchers could not find any common cause of illness among Morgellons patients.
They suggest that the patients’ symptoms and histories are similar to those of patients with a psychiatric condition called delusional infestation — the delusional belief that one is infested with parasites.
Use An Antibacterial Soap
Bacteria can quickly form on your skins surface and deposit whatever products of metabolism they can produce.
Hence, its better to use an antibacterial soap to ensure that your skin is always protected from bacteria. Consult your dermatologist for the right soap for your specific type of skin.
If you dont have time to visit your doctor, you can use any soap as long as you scrub your skin thoroughly to remove microbes.
Take note, though, that not all bacteria on your skin are harmful. Some are part of your normal skins microbiota, such as Micrococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus albus, and Micrococcus candidus, among others.
These bacteria are usually non-pathogenic unless there is an open wound or a severe break in the skin. They may turn pathologic in some instances.
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What Are The Health Risks With Fiberglass
When working with fiberglass, it could create fiberglass dust, which lands on the skin. The fine fibers or splinters can then lodge painfully and cause a fiberglass skin rash. If this is not dealt with, it could cause contact dermatitis. Besides fiberglass skin irritation, there are other health risks:
- The fiberglass could cause eye irritation.
- It could trigger asthma, bronchitis and irritate the respiratory system
- May even irritate the stomach if swallowed
Internet And Media Influence
People usually self-diagnose Morgellons based on information from the internet and find support and confirmation in online communities of people with similar illness beliefs. In 2006, Waddell and Burke reported the influence of the internet on people self-diagnosed with Morgellons: “physicians are becoming more and more challenged by the many persons who attempt self-diagnosis on-line. In many cases, these attempts are well-intentioned, yet wrong, and a person’s belief in some of these oftentimes unscientific sites online may preclude their trust in the evidence-based approaches and treatment recommendations of their physician.”
Dermatologist Caroline Koblenzer specifically faults the Morgellons Research Foundation website for misleading people: “Clearly, as more and more of our patients discover this site , there will be an ever greater waste of valuable time and resources on fruitless research into fibers, fluffs, irrelevant bacteria, and innocuous worms and insects.” A 2005 Popular Mechanics article stated that Morgellons symptoms are well known and characterized in the context of other disorders, and that “widespread reports of the strange fibers date back” only a few years to when the MRF first described them on the Internet. The Los Angeles Times, in an article on Morgellons, notes that “he recent upsurge in symptoms can be traced directly to the Internet, following the naming of the disease by Mary Leitao, a Pennsylvania mother”.
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Morgellons: No Common Cause No Clusters
Morgellons disease is not an official medical diagnosis. The term was coined in 2002 by Mary Leitao, who in 2008 told WebMD she’d noticed “balls of fiber” coming out of her 2-year-old’s skin, just before sores developed.
Leitao got the word “Morgellons” from a 17th century text describing an illness in which black hairs were said to appear on the backs of children in France. The name stuck, even though there’s no evidence the disease is linked to the modern condition.
The CDC study looked for patients treated from 2006 to 2008 for any Morgellons symptoms by Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Out of the 3.2 million people enrolled in the program, they identified 115 patients. Another 11 patients who heard of the study offered to participate. In the end, 41 patients had full physical examinations.
As in previous studies of Morgellons, the patients tended to be female and white .
Three-fourths of the examined patients had sores on their skin. Half of the lesions were merely sun damage, but 40% showed signs of scratching or irritation, and 16% looked like bug bites or allergic reactions to drugs.
Sixteen of the lesions had materials stuck in them. Most turned out to be cotton fibers, probably from clothing some were skin fragments likely caused by scratching.
Importantly, normal areas of the patients’ skin had nothing wrong with them, suggesting that there was no systemic skin disease.
Morgellons Disease Risk Factors
In the past, few doctors had heard of Morgellons. But in response to scattered reports, the CDC worked together with several other health care agencies to investigate this condition. Most reports came from California, Texas, and Florida, although patients have been seen in all 50 states.
The CDC study found that Morgellons is most likely to affect middle-aged white women.
Many of the patients in the CDC study showed signs of being obsessively concerned about health problems in general. This is called somatic concerns.
About half of the people in the study had other health problems, including depression and drug abuse.
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Morgellons: A Hidden Epidemic Or Mass Hysteria
It all started in August 2007, on a family holiday in New England. Paul had been watching Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix with his wife and two sons, and he had started to itch. His legs, his arms, his torso it was everywhere. It must be fleas in the seat, he decided.
But the 55-year-old IT executive from Birmingham has been itching ever since, and the mystery of what is wrong with him has only deepened. When Paul rubbed his fingertips over the pimples that dotted his skin, he felt spines. Weird, alien things, like splinters. Then, in 2008, his wife was soothing his back with surgical spirit when the cotton swab she was using gathered a curious blue-black haze from his skin. Paul went out, bought a £40 microscope and examined the cotton. What were those curling, coloured fibres? He Googled the words: “Fibres. Itch. Sting. Skin.” And there was his answer. It must be: all the symptoms fitted. He had a new disease called morgellons. The fibres were the product of mysterious creatures that burrow and breed in the body. As he read on, he had no idea that morgellons would turn out to be the worst kind of answer imaginable.
So it’s new, frightening and profoundly odd. But if you were to seek the view of the medical establishment, you’d find the strangest fact about this disease: morgellons doesn’t exist.
Has he mentioned these thoughts to his doctor?
“That’s disappointing,” I say.
“But who are you going to sue?” asks a frail, elderly lady two tables away.
How Do Health Care Professionals Diagnose Morgellons Disease
There is no established standard for the diagnosis of Morgellons disease. As with people suffering from most medical complaints, health care professionals tend to assess individuals for this condition by gathering historical information about symptoms, as well as asking questions about medical and mental health symptoms. They perform a physical examination and may order a variety of lab tests to determine the appropriate diagnosis. To assess the specific skin complaints associated with Morgellons disease, the medical professional might request a skin biopsy.
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Mysterious Skin Disease Causes Itching Loose Fibers
Imagine having open sores on your face and body. Then imagine having stringlike fibers literally coming out of your skin.
That’s exactly what patients with a mysterious illness called Morgellons disease say happens to them.
Anne Dill is just one of thousands of patients across the country who suffer from these strange symptoms.
Sometimes it feels as if there’s something moving under her scalp, she said, and fibers come out of her skin.
“There’s this fibrous material,” Dill said. “It’s in layers. It’s — I feel like it isolates itself. I think there’s pockets of it.”
Dill said she was reluctant to talk about the illness because she knew that some people would think she was crazy.
“Oh, I know, because right away that’s what I know that they’re gonna say. ‘Uh, there’s no such thing,'” Dill said.
That’s exactly what most doctors do say: As far as they know, Morgellons is not a recognized disease, at this point, at least.
“I’ve seen colors of some of these fibers. Some of them are bright blue,” said Dr. Vincent De Leo, program director of the dermatology department at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.
“There is nothing in the body that is bright blue. So it has to be something from the environment. And some of them are fibers, but they’re fibers I believe from the environment, not from inside the skin.”
What about the open sores?
Dill has her own idea about what could be causing Morgellons.
Lessen Your Chances Of Exposure To Fiberglass
Many roofing, insulation, and heating materials may contain fiberglass, especially in older buildings. If youâre doing a construction project and start to feel itching or irritation on your skin, you may have been exposed to fiberglass dust.â
Generally, to lessen your risk of fiberglass exposure on a worksite, do the following:
- Cover your skin with loose-fitting, full-coverage clothing. Always wear gloves, closed-toe shoes, eye goggles, and masks when working near fiberglass materials.
- Keep doors and windows open for better airflow and to lessen exposure to large amounts of fiberglass dust.
- Always wash your hands before eating, drinking, or smoking. Donât leave food or drinks in the same room as fiberglass dust.
- Wash the clothes you wore on the job site immediately after exposure. Always wash work clothes separately from other clothes to prevent the spread of fiberglass shards. Clean your washing machine thoroughly after you wash your work clothes.
- Wet the floors and use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to remove fiberglass dust. Never dry sweep fiberglass dust.
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Tips On How To Work With Fiberglass
- When you know an item contains fiberglass, do not touch it with your bare hands
- Get yourself some gloves to protect your hands.
- Other recommended protective gear includes eye protection or goggles and a particulate respirator. Make sure your eye protection covers your entire eye, including the sides.
- You can also dress appropriately in clothes that have long sleeves, long pants and is loose-fitting.
- Once you have completed your work, remove the work clothing straight after you have finished.
- Wash the clothes separately and make sure to rinse the washing machine afterwards.
- Concerning the work area, do not sweep or stir up dust, rather use a vacuum cleaner or a wet mop. The vacuum cleaner should have a proper particulate air filter.
- Work in a well-ventilated area.
- Take a shower yourself when the work with the fiberglass is done. Some fiber glass may still get onto your skin.
- Flush your eyes out with water just as insurance, even if you have been wearing goggles.
- If you do find fibers in your skin, do not rub or scratch, as this will push the fine splinters further into the skin.
- And if the work can be done by somebody else, rather get in a professional in to do the job.