Scleroderma and Calcium Deposits

By Laura Carbone, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (originally published in Scleroderma Voice, 2004 #1)

Q. My mother-in-law has been experiencing painful calcium deposits in her fingertips over the last 8 months. It is becoming more uncomfortable for her and she notices after having her hands in water the pain is increased. Sometimes she cannot stand the pain and will poke a hole in the painful area to drain it, but it keeps coming back.

I read that a possible treatment is minocycline. She was part of a group study for minocycline some years ago, and she developed very painful mouth sores because of it so this is not an option for her. Have there been any improvements to this drug, or are there any alternatives to managing this painful complication? I want to help her so much.

A. I can certainly understand your wanting to help your mother-in-law with this. Calcinosis can be a very painful and debilitating condition.

I would suggest she not “poke holes” in the area herself, because infections may develop. A recent report does suggest low-dose minocycline may be helpful for calcinosis in patients with scleroderma but more work in this area is needed.

Some reports have suggested that diltiazem, a blood pressure medicine may help, but this has yet to be confirmed in any large-scale studies.

Although older reports suggest warfarin, a blood thinner, might help, this has not been shown to be true, and is not generally recommended.

Unfortunately, we do not yet have a good, safe treatment for calcinosis that has been confirmed by large studies.