White fingers in cold

Raynaud's syndrome

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In 1862, the French physician Maurice Raynaud described in his a phenomenon that has since borne his name. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the arteries of the fingers contract in an exaggerated manner. The most common triggers are cold and stress. Three phases can be distinguished. In the first, the fingers become pale or even white (white finger or corpse finger). In the second phase, the hands turn dark red to blue. The reason: the remaining blood is now deprived of all oxygen. In the third phase, the arteries dilate again and fresh blood flows in. Now the hands become red again, warm and then also hurt. Raynaud's syndrome is usually harmless.

However, these complaints can also occur in the context of another disease. Therefore it should be clarified whether such a rare other cause (e.g. rheumatism) hides behind it. Often no therapy is necessary from warm gloves and relaxation. In severe cases so-called calcium antagonists can be used.

We could see that breathing therapy and a special exercise program with a hardening program in the cold chamber is quite successful.

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