Thinned Skin Strikes Again!

You know...

...maybe when you have thinned skin, it's not so smart to have pets in the house.  With two dogs and two cats, it's almost impossible for a day to go by when I'm not injured.

Just documenting.  Having pictures for my disability case has to help, right?  It's not only the animals that help me tear my skin.  It's doing....well, anything.  Dishes, laundry, getting dressed.  One never knows.

Usually, I tear the skin on my left hand, since I'm left-handed.  This time, it was the right hand.

My thinned skin was caused by cortisone injections in my back - for a back injury I had in 1997.  I got the shots as part of my pain management in 2000.

Here's what one web site has to say about Cortisone Injection Side Effects.

Short-term side effects are uncommon but include shrinkage (atrophy) and lightening of the color (depigmentation) of the skin at the injection site, introduction of bacterial infection into the body, local bleeding from broken blood vessels in the skin or muscle, soreness at the injection site, and aggravation of inflammation in the area injected because of reactions to the corticosteroid medication (postinjection flare). Tendons can be weakened by corticosteroid injections in or near tendons. Tendon ruptures as a result have been reported.

In people who have diabetes, cortisone injections can elevate the blood sugar. In patients with underlying infections, cortisone injections can suppress somewhat the body's ability to fight the infection and possibly worsen the infection or may mask the infection by suppressing the symptoms and signs of inflammation. Generally, cortisone injections are used with caution in people with diabetes and avoided in people with active infections. Cortisone injections are used cautiously in people with blood-clotting disorders.

Long-term side effects of corticosteroid injections depend on the dose and frequency of the injections. With higher doses and frequent administration, potential side effects include thinning of the skin, easy bruising, weight gain, puffiness of the face, elevation of blood pressure, cataract formation, thinning of the bones (osteoporosis), and a rare but serious damage to the bones of the large joints (avascular necrosis).