Raynaud's Disease

This is why I am a winter hibernator...

Raynaud's disease is a condition that causes your fingers and toes (and in some cases the tip of your nose and your ears) to feel numb, cool, cramp, and become painful when exposed to cold temperatures or stress. Raynaud's causes smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin to narrow, limiting blood circulation to the affected areas. Even holding an iced drink, putting your hands in the freezer, or air conditioning can trigger a spasm.

Raynaud's is more than simply having cold hands and cold feet, and it's not the same as frostbite. Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's depend on the frequency, duration and severity of the blood vessel spasms that underlie the disorder. Raynaud's symptoms include cold fingers and toes, sequence of color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress, and a numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or relief of stress.

During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually turn white at first. Then, the affected areas often turn dark blue, feel cold and numb, and your sensory perception is dulled. As circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell. The order of the changes of color isn't the same for all people, and not everyone experiences all three colors.

Raynaud’s can occur as a “primary” disease - that is, with no associated disorder. It can also occur as a “secondary” condition (referred to as Raynaud’s phenomenon) related to other diseases, such as scleroderma, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Raynaud’s is named for the French physician Maurice Raynaud, who first recognized the condition in 1862.

Outdoor world, I'll see you in the Spring!