when the cold hurts your fingers

The symptoms of Raynaud’s disease are caused by cold (on the hands but also sometimes on other regions of the body). Symptoms are spontaneously reversible, without any consequences on general health.

Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Dailytoday evokes Raynaud’s phenomenon, a common disorder, triggered by the cold, which manifests itself by numbness and pain in the fingers.

franceinfo: Explain to us what this disease or physical phenomenon is?

Martin Ducret: Raynaud’s phenomenon is a reversible blood circulation disorder, generally triggered by cold, which leads to a reactive reduction in the diameter of the small vessels of the extremities, mainly the fingers, but also the toes, and more rarely the nose and ears. . This sudden vasoconstriction manifests itself by a set of symptoms, which usually follow one another in three phases.

First the fingers become white, cold, numb, with the impression of having “dead fingers”. A few minutes later, they turn blue, and painful tingling appears. And finally, the fingers heat up and turn red, with cooking or burning pain.

In the vast majority of cases, after an attack, the fingers return to normal.
This disorder is generally not serious?

Yes exactly, “Raynaud’s phenomenon is benign in 90% of cases, explained to me Dr Devy LU, dermatologist at CHI De Créteil, mainly affects young women good health, with a slender physique, and its origin is unknown. It is mainly exposure to cold which triggers attacks, but also stress or changes brutal temperatures. Tobacco and caffeinated drinks are aggravating factors.”

On the other hand, in 10% of cases, Raynaud’s phenomenon is secondary to taking certain medications or to certain arterial or autoimmune diseases. Attacks can leave cracks or cracks in the fingers, start spontaneously, without exposure to cold, and be accompanied by associated symptoms, such as joint pain for example.

How to prevent and treat this disorder?

First of all, you should not hesitate to consult a doctor, especially when the seizures only appear on one side, when they are annoying in everyday life, if you are a man, if you have over 35 years old or in case of symptoms associated with seizures. An assessment may be necessary to determine if there is a responsible cause.

Then, to prevent attacks, you must protect the extremities from the cold: wear mittens rather than gloves, put on glove liners, wool socks with fur-lined shoes, and use heaters. In the event of an attack, you can relieve the symptoms by warming your fingers, running them under lukewarm water for a few minutes, for example.

Stopping smoking and caffeinated drinks is also recommended. And if despite these measures, the attacks are too bothersome, there are effective medications to relieve the symptoms.