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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffIn most cases, no treatment is necessary for granuloma annulare. Most lesions disappear within a few months to two years.
If the appearance of the rash bothers you, your doctor can recommend a treatment plan. This may include:
- Corticosteroid creams or ointments. Your doctor may prescribe corticosteroid topical creams to help improve the appearance of the lesions and speed their disappearance. Depending on the thickness of the lesions and the strength of the cream, your doctor may direct you to cover the cream with bandages or an adhesive patch. Covering the steroid cream makes it more effective.
- Corticosteroid injections. If the skin lesions are thicker and your symptoms are greater, your doctor may inject corticosteroids (triamcinolone, others) directly into the affected skin to help the lesions disappear faster.
- Freezing the lesions (cryotherapy). In cryotherapy, your doctor applies liquid nitrogen to the affected area with a cotton-tipped applicator or a small instrument designed for applying extreme cold (a spray device or a cryoprobe). The procedure usually lasts from just a few seconds to one minute. The liquid nitrogen freezes the lesions, helping to remove them and stimulate new growth of cells in your skin.
Light therapy
In severe cases of generalized granuloma annulare, your doctor may recommend a special kind of ultraviolet light therapy called psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA). This treatment combines exposure to ultraviolet light (phototherapy) with drugs called psoralens, which help make your skin more receptive to the effects of ultraviolet light.
- Granuloma annulare. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_granuloma.html. Accessed April 25, 2010.
- Granuloma annulare. American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/granuloma_annulare.html. Accessed April 25, 2010.
- Prendiville JS. Granuloma annulare: Introduction. In: Wolff K, et al. Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. 7th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2959059&searchStr=granuloma+annulare#2959059. Accessed April 26, 2010.
- Granuloma annulare. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec10/ch117/ch117g.html. Accessed April 25, 2010.
- Popovich D, et al. Accurately diagnosing commonly misdiagnosed circular rashes. Dermatology Nursing. 2008;20:294.
- Borfitz JM. Commonly missed dermatologic conditions. Nurse Practitioner. 2009;34:35.
- Gibson LE (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 29, 2010.
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