Health and Wellness. The heart of winter is around the corner. This causes the affected areas to turn white and blue. When blood flow returns, the skin turns red, and may throb or tingle. Secondary occurs from an underlying cause, like disease, injury, or certain medications.
Barry explains. In general, fingers and toes are affected, but other parts of your body such as your nose, lips and ears can be affected too. It can last from just a few minutes to many hours. Your body protects your internal organs your core from heat loss in cold weather by redirecting the blood away from the extremities such as the fingers and toes.
Blood vessels in your extremities narrow, starving the tissues of blood and causing the characteristic blue or white colour change. When this happens, you may experience stinging pain, tingling and numbness in your fingers or toes. When blood flow returns, the skin turns from blue to red and finally back to its usual colour.
Circulation to the rest of the body is generally unaffected. It affects more women than men, generally under the age of Your doctor may use a range of methods to decide which form you have, including:. Keeping your body and extremities warm and dressing appropriately for the cold with gloves, thick socks and warm layers can help to prevent attacks.
You could also place your hands under your armpits, make circles with your arms or try to massage your hands or feet. If a stressful situation triggers the attack, try to remove yourself from the situation and relax. You may need to be prescribed medications that widen your blood vessels and improve circulation. In severe cases, to prevent tissue damage you may be prescribed medication that dilates your blood vessels.
Surgery may be needed if you develop skin ulcers or serious tissue damage. Initially it may only affect the tips of the fingers or toes, but over time may affect whole fingers and toes. The rate of progression differs greatly amongst individuals. It does run in families, however, so a genetic cause is suspected. It usually starts in a person's teenage years or twenties. Secondary Raynaud's disease can develop at any age. Most episodes occur in response to exposure to cold, sudden changes in temperature or emotional stress.
An episode tends to come on very quickly and can last for minutes or a number of hours. In mild cases, only skin discolouration or minor tingling may be experienced. In more severe cases the lack of oxygen due to the reduced blood supply can irritate nerves, causing pain, and can damage the tissues beneath the skin. In rare cases the prolonged lack of oxygen can cause cracked skin or chilblains, or small ulcers at the tips of the fingers.
Read more about therapies for stress. If your symptoms fail to improve, you may be prescribed nifedipine. This is the only medicine licensed to treat Raynaud's phenomenon in the UK. It doesn't cure Raynaud's, but can help to relieve the symptoms.
Nifedipine is a calcium channel blocker — a type of medication that encourages the blood vessels to widen. Depending on the pattern of your symptoms and how well you respond to treatment, you may be asked to take your medication every day.
Alternatively, you may only need to take it as prevention; for example, during a sudden snap of cold weather. The side effects should improve as your body gets used to the medicine, but tell your GP if you find them particularly troublesome.
There are alternative calcium channel blockers that may suit you better. However, some people have claimed to benefit from treatment. These medications include:. These medicines are not licensed for the treatment of Raynaud's in the UK, but you may be prescribed them if it's thought the potential benefit outweighs the possible risks.
Surgery for Raynaud's is rare. It's usually only recommended if your symptoms are so severe that there's a risk the affected body part, such as your fingers, could lose their blood supply and begin to die. Read more about the complications of Raynaud's phenomenon. A type of surgery called sympathectomy is sometimes used. It involves cutting the nerves causing the affected blood vessels to spasm.
The results of a sympathectomy are often only temporary and further treatment and possibly more surgery may be required after a few years. People with Raynaud's phenomenon have an increased risk of developing other problems, such as scleroderma. Scleroderma is a Greek word meaning hard skin, but it can affect other areas of the body, such as the kidneys, heart and lungs. Without a constant supply of blood, the tissue in the body part will begin to die.
This problem is rare and normally only occurs in secondary Raynaud's. The initial sign is an open sore, known as an ulcer, which develops on the surface of the body part.
If you suspect a skin ulcer, contact your GP for advice. The symptoms of dry gangrene normally begin with a red line on the skin that marks the edges of the affected tissue. The tissue becomes cold and numb, and can be painful as the tissue dies. However, many people, particularly the elderly, experience no sensations. The affected area changes colour from red, to brown, to black.
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