Raynaud's phenomenon

Star

mild severity

Symptoms

fingers turning white then blue cold fingers and toes numbness in the cold tingling as hands warm up

Overview

For a lay person:

Raynaud's phenomenon is when small blood vessels in the fingers and toes over-react to cold or stress, so the digits turn white, then blue, then red as blood returns.

For a trained medical person:

Primary Raynaud's is common and benign; secondary Raynaud's is associated with connective tissue disease such as scleroderma. Management: keeping warm, stopping smoking, calcium channel blockers.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Yin cold; Liver Qi Stagnation; Blood Stasis; Damp-Heat. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor for ulcers on the fingers, or Raynaud's starting after age 30.

Looking for holistic approaches?

Match your symptoms to patterns

Similar Conditions

Scleroderma how are these connected? Numbness how are these connected? Cold extremities how are these connected? Poor circulation how are these connected? Weakness how are these connected? Cardiovascular disorders how are these connected?

📝 Notes

Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Raynaud's phenomenon.

No notes yet.

Back to Conditions