Signs & symptoms of Raynaud’s

What are the symptoms?

When we’re exposed to cold, some of our blood vessels, such as those in the fingers, get narrower. This is a normal response to help the body’s core stay warm. In Raynaud’s, this reaction is exaggerated, causing poor blood flow to the affected part of the body. This is a Raynaud’s attack.

During an attack, both primary and secondary cause similar symptoms, which typically include colour changes, pain and numbness. The symptoms affect the extremities of the body, and it’s most common in the hands and feet. It can also affect other parts of the body like the lips, tongue, nose, nipples and ears.

Raynaud’s symptoms may include:

• cold fingers and toes
• colour changes in your skin, often from white, to blue, to red
• numbness
• tingling
• pain

At the end of the attack, there can be a stinging or throbbing pain when the area warms up. The symptoms aren’t constant – they come and go. An attack can be as short as a few minutes or it may last for hours. Some people have long gaps between attacks while others may have one or more attacks every day.

Colour changes

Not everyone with Raynaud’s has all of these colour changes, but the common colour changes are:

1. The skin goes white when the blood supply gets cut off to the skin.
2. It turns blue when the blood trapped in the skin loses its oxygen (cyanosis).
3. The area turns red when blood flow returns to normal.

Why symptoms happen

Raynaud’s symptoms happen when your body’s normal reaction to cold is too strong. When it’s cold, your body’s top priority is to keep the essential organs, such as the heart and kidneys, warm by temporarily increasing blood circulation to your core organs.

Your body does this by narrowing the small blood vessels (arterioles) that deliver oxygen-carrying blood to your extremities, like your hands and feet. This squeezing action is called vasospasm.

The problem is, with Raynaud’s, this system goes into overdrive and too much oxygen-rich blood is kept away from some parts of your body. This temporary lack of blood flow is what causes your symptoms. If you have Raynaud’s, stress can cause the same reaction.