Raynaud's disease (patient information)

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What is Raynaud's disease?

Raynaud's disease refers to a disorder in which the fingers or toes suddenly experience decreased blood circulation. Usual triggers include cold stimulation and stress. Patients' finger or toes may turn pale or white and then blue, feeling numb, cold, or painful. Skin ulcers may appear in severe cases. The doctor may diagnose your Raynaud's disease by medical history, physical examination and cold stimulation test. Maintain a good life-style and avoid triggers are very important for patients with Raynaud's disease. Treatment opinion includes medications and surgery. Many cases of Raynaud's disease carry good outcomes.

How do I know if I have Raynaud's disease and what are the symptoms of Raynaud's disease?

Raynaud's disease usually affect the fingers and toes, beginning in one finger or toe and moving on to other fingers or toes. The attacks can last from less than a minute to several hours. Usual signs and symptoms are:

Turn pale or white and then blue
Feel numb, cold, or painful
Turn red, throb, tingle, burn, or feel numb as blood flow returns to the affected areas
Skin ulcers

Who is at risk for Raynaud's disease?

The underlying cause of Raynaud's disease is not clear. Clinical studies demonstrate the following factors may be associated with the onset of this disease.

Cold temperatures
Stress
Family history of Raynaud's disease
Female gender
Age between 15~30

How to know you have Raynaud's disease?

Medical history and physical examination
Cold stimulation test: Cold stimulation can be used to trigger Raynaud's disease. During this test, your hands may be placed in ice water or exposed to cold air to trigger an episode of Raynaud's disease. Then, the doctor measures the time for your fingers to return to their original temperature. If your fingers appear color changes and feel numb or pain, and the time to return to original temperature is longer than 20 minutes, your doctor may consider Raynaud's disease.

When to seek urgent medical care?

Call your health care provider if symptoms of Raynaud's disease develop.

Treatment options

Raynaud's disease can not cure. The goal of treatment is to reduce the number and severity of attacks.

Change life-style, avoid triggers.

Avoid cold stimulation
Control stress
Avoid drugs that may increase blood vessel spasm, such as beta blockers, birth control pills and cold drugs including pseudoephedrine.

Medications: Meidcations may widen blood vessels and promote circulation. Usual medications include:

Calcium channel blockers, such as nifedipine, amlodipine and felodipine
Alpha blockers, such as prazosin and doxazosin.
Vasodilators, such as nitroglycerin cream, prostaglandins

Surgery

Sympathectomy, cutting sympathetic nerves in your hands and feet, may be helpful for patients with severe Raynaud's disease. The surgery may interrupt the exaggerated response and reduce the frequency and duration of attacks.
Amputation: This is rare. When the blood supply of your finger or toe has been completely blocked and the tissue has developed gangrenea, amputation may be considered.