What are treatment options for myositis?
Early and aggressive treatment of myositis is key to preventing long term complications from this rare but serious medical condition. Focus is usually centered around the management of the symptoms associated with myositis as there is no cure for this condition. Because symptoms vary from person to person, so does the treatment. Some treatment examples include:
- Corticosteroids - a form of treatment that is usually provided in an oral or injectable form and is used in high doses to reduce inflammation as quickly as possible. This is usually the first line of treatment for myositis.
- Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) - treatments that reduce the immune system’s inflammatory response. This is usually the next phase of treatment if corticosteroid treatment fails. Most common examples include:
- methotrexate
- azathioprine
- mycophenolate mofetil
- cyclosporine
- tacrolimus
- cyclophosphamide
- hydroxychloroquine
- Immunoglobulin - an intravenous procedure involving purified plasma from donated blood that has healthy antibodies infused into the body to prevent further damage of the muscle tissues.
- Physical therapy - an effective treatment that helps reduce muscle weakness, atrophy, and improve mobility due to increasing the flexibility to the affected areas.
- Exercise - recommended as this helps reduce inflammation, fatigue, and build muscle mass.
Myositis sometimes may be a tricky condition to manage. Learning more about medications or self-care treatments has been very effective for treating this condition. If you would like to learn more on how you or a loved one can better manage myositis, reaching out to one of our healthcare providers at TeleMed2U may be the first step to successful management.
If you have been recently diagnosed with myositis, or think you may have myositis, consider visiting the Myositis Foundation website for more information and support: https://www.myositis.org/patient-support/living-with-myositis/
