Raynaud's disease is characterized by a sharp increase in tone in certain groups of arteries. The subsequent result is a developing spasm, a narrowing of the lumen of the arteries so much that the flow of blood to the tissues it feeds almost stops. The cause of the disease is ischemia. As a result, the flow of blood to the relevant organs is disrupted.
The frequency of the phenomenon among the population is approximately 5-10%. Young and middle-aged people are most susceptible to the disease, and women are 5 times more likely to get it than men.
Although 140 years have passed since the description of the disease by the French physician Maurice Raynaud, its causes and mechanisms of development remain unclear, and microscopic examination of the tissues of the affected area does not reveal abnormalities (or they turn out to be insignificant).
This is precisely the reason for the lack of a clear treatment plan. Some patients are helped by medications (local or for oral administration of different pharmacological groups), others by physiotherapeutic procedures (for example, low-power laser therapy). Sometimes Raynaud's disease goes away on its own. In practice, you need to look for a specialist in diseases of the autonomic nervous system (a cardiologist or neurologist) and, with his help, select treatment.
- Blood disease accompanied by the appearance of specific proteins - macroglobulinemia, cryoglobulinemia;
- Thrombocytosis - increased levels of platelets in the blood;
- Decreased thyroid function - myxedema;
— Compression of nerves, occurs in computer users;
This condition can occur secondary to many diseases.
1. Angiospastic - short-term spasms of the vessels of the terminal phalanges (1-3 toes).
2. Angioparalytic stage - cyanotic color, swelling, pasty fingers.
3. Trophoparalytic - ulcers; tendency to develop felons; long-term non-healing ulcers, in case of rejection.
- adrenolytic and vasodilators, such as: papaverine, dihydroergotamine, tropafen, nikoshpan, no-shpa;
- ganglion blockers: pachycarpine and hexonium,
Warm baths make sense.
Patients should avoid cooling and smoking is prohibited.
1. Nifedipine, which reduces the frequency of Raynaud's disease attacks and their duration. With prolonged use of the drug, the patient experiences a reverse development of vascular-trophic disorders.
2. Amlodipine is also effective.
3. It is recommended to use vazaprostan, which promotes cell regeneration. This drug reduces blood clots.
4. Alprostadil reduces the frequency, duration and intensity of Raynaud's attacks, numbness and ischemic pain, as well as ulcerative-necrotic changes in the extremities, completely healing ulcers.
5. A special place belongs to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors - captopril, which should be combined with calcium antagonists.
2. In cases of pronounced symptoms, it is necessary to avoid activities that place a lot of stress on the fingers. This includes skiing, sewing, working on a typewriter, playing the piano, as well as all water sports.
3. Be sure to constantly examine the skin so that when signs of infection are first detected, immediately seek the help of a specialist.
4. It is necessary to avoid the possibility of injury during an attack. Under no circumstances should you touch hot or cold surfaces and you should be careful when handling sharp objects that can cause you to cut yourself.
5. Vegetables and fruits should always be washed only in warm water. Remove ice cubes from the refrigerator using tweezers.
The medical term for blue feet is cyanosis. Cyanosis is usually caused by a lack of oxygen in the blood. Sometimes blue legs are accompanied by swelling, in which case medical conditions including deep vein thrombosis may also be the cause.
Most causes of blue feet are quite serious and require medical attention. But some causes of blue feet are not that serious and can be improved using home remedies.
One of the common and least serious reasons why an adult's feet turn blue is cold. Depending on your skin color, the blue will be less or more noticeable. If your feet turn blue when you're cold, Raynaud's disease is the cause. Raynaud's disease is a medical problem that is often associated with smokers, where the limbs turn white and then blue when they are exposed to cold temperatures.
Treatment: The cause is related to blood circulation. When a person is cold, blood flows to the vital organs to keep them warm, neglecting the extremities. If you notice that your feet are turning blue from the cold, try to warm up slowly. Place a light blanket over your feet or put on a second pair of socks.
More than 32,000 deaths a year are caused by unintentional poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And one of the most common signs of poisoning is blue legs. Many cases of poisoning occur due to drug overdose, but some poisons are found in contaminated food, water, or when chemicals are used in confined spaces.
In particular, cyanide poisoning causes cyanosis. Cyanide affects the body's interaction with oxygen, causing blue discoloration.
Symptoms of varicose veins and more can be:
If you have these symptoms, you need to know that this is stage l of varicose veins. How our readers solve foot problems.
Treatment: Always use cleaning products and other chemicals in well-ventilated areas. If you notice a change in the color of your limbs, get some fresh air. You may need pure oxygen if you exhibit any other symptoms.
If you think you have been exposed to contaminated food, especially cyanide, you need to go to the hospital immediately. They will treat you with antivenom and oxygen therapy.
Some babies are born completely blue. In fact, the common name for this condition is “blue baby syndrome.” Blue babies or blue feet can be caused by a condition known as cyanotic heart disease. Other heart diseases are associated with cyanosis in adults.
Some congenital heart defects indicate that the right side of the heart flows toward the left side, not moving to the lungs to get more oxygen. As a result, the skin turns blue.
A related condition that can also cause blue legs is arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries or a clogged artery. As a 2008 Munich study found, hardening of the arteries leads to less oxygen entering the blood, resulting in blue legs.
Asthma can cause blue legs. This disease restricts the flow of oxygen to the lungs, and lack of oxygen is the cause of a bluish tint to the skin in many cases. The exact cause is wheezing, which creates excessive air displacement, resulting in decreased oxygen levels in the blood, which makes the feet appear blue.
If you have been diagnosed with asthma and have had a recent attack, follow your doctor's advice and take the prescribed medications and the color should return to normal.
According to the National Blood Heart and Lung Institute, emphysema is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States and is closely linked to smoking. As with asthma, lack of oxygen is what causes the skin to turn blue. If there is wheezing and coughing up mucus or blood, and at the same time the legs become bluish, then it may be emphysema.
Treatment of the underlying condition is the way to treat cyanosis. Sufferers are usually treated with oxygen and medications.
Deep vein thrombosis is a condition where a blood clot forms in the veins and can eventually travel to the heart and cause a fatal pulmonary embolism.
Never massage your legs if you think you have a blood clot. Massaging your feet can dislodge a blood clot and it can then travel to the brain and cause a stroke or to the heart and cause a heart attack.
Burgers disease can also cause blue feet. It is caused by the coagulation of veins in the arms and legs. This is usually associated with smoking. Buerger's disease mainly affects men.
If blue leg occurs in combination with pain in that leg, it is important to go to the ER immediately, as a blood clot can kill a person within a few hours.
This does not refer to the psychological state of shock, but refers to circulation, which may be caused by blood loss or severe burns. It occurs when blood does not circulate around the body as intended due to certain factors.
Treatment is immediate medical attention as circulatory shock can be fatal within a short time.
Diabetes is a common cause of blue legs. According to the Centers for Disease Control, people who have type 2 diabetes in particular are more likely to develop blue skin or blue legs because their cardiovascular function is often weaker. Diabetes can cause blood vessels to narrow when blood sugar levels are high. Therefore, poor circulation can lead to blue feet.
If you have blue feet and have been diagnosed with diabetes, then you need to see a doctor as this could be a sign that your condition is getting worse.
Stress and dehydration can also cause blue feet.
This is due to the effect of stress on the circulatory system. Chemicals released during stress, such as adrenaline, change the way the heart pumps blood around the body and sometimes the composition of the blood in preparation for bodily injury.
Dehydration in very advanced stages can cause the skin to turn blue.
Drinking 8 glasses of water a day can eliminate most cases of dehydration, but not when your feet are blue. Avoid excessive caffeine consumption to slow down dehydration throughout the day. This type of severe dehydration can also cause other symptoms.
One of the most important findings that scientists have found about hydration is that the body accepts water better when it is consumed from vegetables and fruits. It is literally better to “eat water” than to “drink it.”
If dehydration is so severe that the legs turn blue, the person must be hospitalized to receive intravenous fluids. After this, he should follow a daily regimen of drinking enough water.
In the cold, your hands not only turn blue, but also become covered with small white spots. Sometimes your hands turn blue - as if they were like marble, and it’s even scary and unpleasant when someone looks at them. It is generally accepted that most often the fingernails turn blue from the cold. Marina turns blue and shrinks. The knees also turn blue. Good afternoon I am 20 years old, even in elementary school I noticed that my hands were turning blue. They don't even turn blue, they turn purple.
At the age of 16 I was admitted to the hospital - they also thought it was Raynaud's syndrome (my fingers were still swollen from the cold). It’s just that cryoglobulin is such an insidious protein that it can catch the kidneys, so it’s better to catch it as early as possible and treat it. And please, I am asking for advice from you, not criticism about smoking. VSD and vasoconstriction. The editors are not responsible for the content of advertisements and articles. The disease occurs in predominantly young and middle-aged people, more often in women.
N. P. Bekhtereva, A. V. Bondarchuk and V. V. Zontov explain the pathogenesis of Raynaud’s disease by enhancing the function of the adrenergic system of the reticular formation. N.I. Grashchenkov, highly appreciating these works, believed that in the genesis of angiotrophoneuroses, to which he classified Raynaud's disease, the leading role is played by dysfunction of vegetative peripheral devices.
The pathogenesis of Raynaud's disease is very complex and not well understood. The Central Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy has developed a number of treatment methods depending on the stage, etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. Irradiation began with 2-3 biodoses on the anterior surface and 3-4 biodoses on the posterior surface. The treatment complex should include physical therapy and massage. It is especially important to protect patients from the cold, since during the cold season the disease often worsens.
And here I am. I'm just shocked....terrified. The fact is that our doctors honestly said that they do not know what it is and how to deal with it! I did an ultrasound of the vessels of the upper extremities and everything was confirmed! Commissioned. I actually developed trophic ulcers on my hands, which began to heal only after returning home. I think it’s due to climate change.
I try not to think (although it doesn’t always work out) and move on with my life. I’ve lived in Yamal almost all my life; for those who don’t know, it’s in the far north. In 2011, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and off we go!
My legs, I want to say, are fucked up, the skin just peels off in layers, it’s not possible to wash at all, shower once a month and hello. I quarreled with that creature, they immediately gave me a disability, I don’t know about anyone, but all our Khachis buy disabilities without any problems and get housing due to this. And my murderous doctor proved to me that I was still normal, while she and the head of MSE traded left and right.
They completely changed the treatment and, after a month, I began to change for the better. Thanks to my husband, he is my angel, I can’t stop watching this, it’s fantastic! The belt was cut by 12 cm, think about how much weight I lost, I look at myself in the mirror and I can’t take my eyes off, and 1.5 years ago I cried when I looked, people on the street didn’t recognize me.
The disease is based on an excess of protein - collagen, produced by certain cells, which, when accumulated in the body, leads to thickening of the skin and disruption of the functions of internal organs. These physical exercises are simple and well known. Recently, systemic scleroderma, unfortunately, has become more and more common. This is due to the deterioration of the environmental situation and the excessive use of chemicals and substances in everyday life. The passion for various cosmetics and dietary supplements also had an effect.
Harmful substances are also contained in some expired, low-quality food products. Changing the natural color of nails is an unpleasant phenomenon. This is an alarm because both nails and tongue are a barometer of a person’s health.
Elena! First of all, there is nothing dangerous about your illness; it is just a cosmetic defect. This is not Raynaud's syndrome (someone probably called your disease that). It may go away over the years. In the meantime, try using a contrast shower (changing hot and cold), exercising with dumbbells and self-massage of the neck-collar area with massagers with wooden balls. I take a shower every morning and evening, I go to the gym and work out with dumbbells, etc. I also have mild scoliosis, I wear a corrector, my work is sedentary.
If cryoglobulinemia is ruled out, the problem may be vascular spasms. She said if everything was fine with the spine, she would look further. According to most authors, spasm of small arteries and capillaries plays a leading role in the genesis of Raynaud's disease due to increased excitability of the vasoconstrictor centers of the sympathetic nervous system. E.I. Shakhnovskaya, in addition to the above methods, recommends the use of fresh or pine baths, superficial massage (in stages I and II), especially of the paravertebral areas.
Both hands can do this at once, but sometimes one will turn purple and become cold. The blueness of the nail plate of the hands is due to the fact that under the influence of cold the blood vessels significantly narrow - and then the blood circulation under the nails slows down. Not too long ago, my hands and feet began to freeze, even when it was warm. I thought that I had just become such a freezing person... Try to quickly go into a warm room or hide your hands under your clothes.
Many people know why lips turn blue when a person is hypothermic. But what if the color change occurs for no apparent reason? This means there is a reason to start worrying about your own health!
When your lips simply turn blue in the cold, but return to their natural color in a warm room, then a further visit to the doctor seems inappropriate. But consultation with a specialist becomes necessary if, along with blueness, at least one of the following symptoms appears:
1. Hypothermia of the body. This reason is the most common and relatively safe. The usual pink color of the skin is ensured by constant blood circulation through the vessels. At the moment of cooling, a redistribution of resources occurs when all forces are aimed at warming the internal organs. The blood vessels in the extremities (and in the lips as well) begin to narrow, reducing blood flow. As a result, the skin acquires a bluish tint and the mouth becomes numb. As soon as a person enters a warm environment, blood circulation returns to its previous course, providing the entire body with the most necessary things. The return of a pink tint to the lips signals the restoration of all internal systems.
2. Oxygen starvation. Most often occurs as a result of exposure to toxic gases, including the habit of frequent smoking. But a more serious option is possible - problems with the cardiovascular system. Hypoxemia (decreased oxygen levels in the blood) is known medically as “skin cyanosis.” The word “cyanosis” is translated from ancient Greek. as “dark blue,” so the main symptom is the characteristic purple tint of the lips, skin, and mucous membranes. As a result of oxygen starvation, reduced hemoglobin in the blood increases, which leads to darkening of the lips.
3. Iron deficiency anemia. Hemoglobin is responsible for the red color of the skin, the formation of which depends on the amount of iron ingested in food. If a person experiences bluish lips along with unnatural pale skin, then it’s time to suspect iron deficiency anemia. But a deficiency of hemoglobin in the blood is not always associated with poor nutrition; sometimes heavy blood loss is enough for a problem to appear. Possible causes are copious amounts of discharge during menstruation, a complication of a peptic ulcer, a serious injury with rupture of blood vessels.
4. Problems with the heart or lungs. A sharp change in the usual lip color from pink to purple, along with increased heart rate and shortness of breath, indicate serious problems within the body. This can be either a heart attack or the formation of a blood clot in the vessels of the lungs, the manifestation of pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma and other diseases that cause a lack of oxygen. Calling an ambulance is the best solution in this situation.
5. Severe form of croup in children. When a child’s lips turn blue and a strong barking cough appears, it’s time to get alarmed and urgently call a pediatrician. Some respiratory diseases lead to serious illness (croup) that requires hospitalization to avoid death. The child may complain that it is difficult to breathe or his throat is tight, but to alleviate his condition, you cannot use “grandmother’s methods”, but should wait for a recommendation from a medical professional.
Why do your lips hurt? Read here.
When a person is hypothermic, it is recommended to warm him up in all possible ways: dress him better, massage his limbs (to improve blood flow), give him a warm drink. But if additional alarming symptoms appear, it is recommended to call an ambulance and describe the situation in detail. An experienced specialist will figure out whether it is necessary to urgently send a team of doctors or offer the patient to independently get to the clinic at a convenient appointment time.
When we spend a long time outside in thirty-degree frost, then blue lips can be called a completely natural phenomenon. It’s a completely different matter when they begin to change shade for absolutely no apparent reason - this can become one of the signs of problems with the body.
Everything, as you understand, depends on the specific situation. So, if your lips start to turn blue when it’s +30 degrees outside, this is a clear reason to seek help from a medical facility. However, if hypothermia occurs, you can help yourself - the main thing is to stop the influence of cold factors on the body, and for this it is enough to get into a warm room that is not blown by the wind. It is also necessary to remove all wet clothes, if any, and replace them with dry ones. Immediately after this, it is recommended to drink something hot: tea, milk, fruit drink... If you are slightly hypothermic, you can take a bath, but initially the water should be barely warm, then you can increase its temperature (but not higher than 40 degrees). Dry yourself thoroughly with a terry towel and lie down under a warm blanket.
But what you should not do is give the patient coffee or alcohol and place him under hot water without first warming him up. Remember that heating the victim should not be sudden, as this leads to an instant temperature change, which can lead to internal hemorrhages, bursting capillaries and other complications. As for severe hypothermia, the person must receive emergency medical care otherwise he may lose his life.