Skin pinching

[Obsdian]

I read some old sfuff on this board and didn't understand it. It was about not being able to pinch just skin and you being firm instead.

Is this something to worry about or flag to a GP?

[helvella Administrator]

It is about the very origin of the term Myxoedema as a name for hypothyroidism. Specifically, the non-pitting swelling you get due to the accumulation of various jelly-like substances when hypothyroid.

See this as a quick reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxedema

There are few non-thyroid causes.

[Obsdian in reply to helvella]

Does this go away when treatment is optimal?

[humanbean]

You must have seen this short video :

youtube.com/watch?v=oI9yurd...(Not working as expected?)

[Obsdian in reply to humanbean]

Yes, saw that, read a post and attempted google but came up with hardly anything.

[DippyDame]

If you pinch skin the area that is pinched can appear...

a).....as a hard piece of flesh between the thumb and fore finger

This is most likely water logged mucin which lies under the skin and is very often the result of hypothyroidism.

Correcting inadequate thyroid treatment very often slowly gets rid of this but I don't think this is always the case

b).....as a wobbly piece of flesh that can be manipulated so that thumb and forefinger come close together this is usually an accumulation of fat cells.

This will very depending on the level of adipose tissue

It's not a red flag which requires GP attention....what is more important is to have your thyroid hormone levels tested by a GP ifyou are symptomatic

thyroiduk.org/signs-and-sym...

Bottom line....how do you feel?

[Obsdian in reply to DippyDame]

Thank you. Having my dose increase has been a battle. Only have my first increase after 7 months

[DippyDame in reply to Obsdian]

What dose are you now taking ?

[Obsdian in reply to DippyDame]

75

[jgelliss in reply to DippyDame]

👏👏👏👏

[sparkly in reply to DippyDame]

I'd forgotten all about this. So could this be another sign that someone is undermedicated. Mines has never gone on tops of arms also feel cold and cold to touch even when I'm warm.

[greygoose]

The idea of doing the pinch test is to understand why you have put on weight: is it fat - which you can get rid of with diet and exercise? or is it water-retention which won't go away with diet and exercise.

There are so many people who assume that it is fat and go on low-calorie diets and find themselves putting on even more weight. This is because you need calories to convert T4 to T3, and if you down-grade your conversion by lack of calories, you're going to become even more hypo and put on even more weight.

If you know that your excess weight is water-weight then you know that low-calorie diets are not going to help and you can increase your calorie in-take.

And so many people find that they lose more weight by eating more, than they did on the low-calorie diet. But a doctor wouldn't understand that.

[Ruby1 in reply to greygoose]

I agree, not eating enough calories can stop you losing weight. I did a calorie controlled diet - interestingly the app would tell me if I hadn't had enough calories, but also my weight loss plateaued until I upped my calories again. I believe your body goes into starvation mode to stop you losing weight.