Raynaud's syndrome: symptoms and treatment, types of disease and stages of its development

Raynaud's syndrome is a rare and unusual disease. The reasons for its occurrence are still not fully understood. It can be an independent disease, and be a consequence of another disease.

Let's talk about the fact that modern medicine is aware of this disease and its varieties, and also what methods of treatment exist.

Description of the disease

Syndrome( disease or phenomenon) Reynaud is an blood supply disorder due to a strong narrowing of the peripheral vessels .Usually, fingers and toes suffer, rarely the tip of the nose, tongue or chin. The emergence of the syndrome may indicate the presence of connective tissue diseases, or it may be an independent ailment.

For the first time syndrome was described in 1863 by neuroscientist Maurice Reynaud .The doctor decided that he managed to describe another form of neurosis. But his assumption has not yet been confirmed.

Causes and Risk Factors of

Although the syndrome has been described for a long time, there is as yet no precise data on the causes of its occurrence. At present, only the following risk factors are known to physicians at :

• hypothermia;
• stress;
• overwork;
• overheating;
• endocrine disorders;
• brain injury;
• is a hereditary factor.

The risk group includes people whose day-to-day work is associated with increased strain on the fingers or work in the conditions of strong vibration .For example, typists and musicians( especially pianists).

The Reino phenomenon also can develop against a background of other diseases, among which:

• Rheumatic : scleroderma( inflammation of the vessels), lupus erythematosus( connective tissue damage), nodular periarteritis( inflammation of the arterial vessels), rheumatoid arthritis( joint inflammation) and others.
• Vascular : postthrombotic syndrome( about it here), obliterating atherosclerosis of the vessels of the lower extremities( arterial lesion).
• Various blood pathologies : thrombocytosis( increase in platelets), myeloma( malignant tumor).
• Compression of the neurovascular bundle.
• Disturbance of the adrenal glands.

Classification and stages of

There are two types of Raynaud's syndrome:

• Primary - the disease develops on its own and is not associated with other ailments.
• Secondary - a phenomenon caused by other diseases.

The course of the disease is divided into three stages:

• angiospastic - initial stage;
• angioparalytic - can develop for several years accompanied by long-term remissions;
• atrophorealitic is the last stage, characterized by tissue death and joint damage. At this stage, the disease begins to rapidly progress, which leads to the death of the affected limbs and as a consequence of the patient's disability.

To make it easier to identify the symptoms and get timely treatment, take a look at these photos of all the stages of Raynaud's syndrome( illness):

Danger and complications of

There are times when the disease stops on its own in the first stage of after several attacks. But even if this did not happen, the course of the disease is very long, and the painful attacks, which increase in frequency and duration, sooner or later force you to see a doctor.

The third stage is the most dangerous because of appearance of skin ulcers, tissue necrosis and even loss of limbs .But it occurs only in very neglected cases and in those patients who suffer from the phenomenon of Raynaud due to another severe disease.

Symptoms

Reynaud syndrome manifests itself most frequently in the arms, less often on the legs and in single cases on the chin and tip of the nose.

The main symptom of the disease is an attack, which is divided into three phases:

• 1 phase - the skin of the affected extremities strongly turn pale. It lasts from 5 to 10 minutes and begins after a disease causing the disease( hypothermia, stress).Pallor appears due to a sharp narrowing of the vessels, which leads to a violation of blood flow. The whiter the skin, the worse the supply of blood.
• 2 phase - the pale areas begin to slowly turn blue. This is due to the fact that the blood that enters the veins before the spasm of blood vessels stagnates in them.
• 3 phase - the affected areas become red. The attack ends, the arteries expand and the blood supply is restored.

In addition, during an attack are observed:

• Pain syndrome , which can accompany the entire attack, and can occur only in the first and third phase.
• Numbness of occurs usually after a painful syndrome, but can also replace it. During the restoration of blood circulation, numbness is accompanied by a slight tingling sensation.

When to see a doctor and to what?

To consult a doctor for diagnosis and treatment, it is advisable immediately after the appearance of the first symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome( illness).Choose of an experienced rheumatologist , since Reynaud's syndrome is very rare.

Learn about the disease more from the video:

Diagnostics and differential diagnostics

An experienced physician can diagnose Reynaud's syndrome only on external symptoms. But to determine the cause of the disease it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive examination, which consists of:

• general blood test;
• immunological blood test;
• blood coagulation test;
• of thyroid ultrasound;
• capillaroscopy( examination of vessels for the degree of affection);
• tomography and x-ray of the cervical spine;
• ultrasound dopplerography of vessels.

How to treat?

The process of treating Raynaud's disease is very long, since the cause of the onset of the disease is unknown. For the duration of therapy, disease-provoking factors should be avoided:

• smoking;
• drinking coffee;
• subcooling;
• exposure to vibrations;
• interaction with chemicals;
• continued operation on the keyboard;
• stressful situations.

The main way to fight the disease - conservative treatment, combining the use of medications with a number of therapeutic techniques .

The most effective drugs for the treatment of Raynaud's syndrome are:

• Vasodilators : Nifedipine, Corinfar, Verapamil. In neglected cases appoint Vasaprostan, the course of treatment which consists of 15 - 20 infusions.
• Antiaggregant ( improving blood circulation): Trental, Agapurin.
• Spasmolytic : Platyphylline, No-shpa.
• In some cases ACE inhibitors are used that reduce blood pressure.

Drug therapy is always combined with therapeutic methods:

• physiotherapy;
• reflexotherapy( impact on active points of the human body);
• electrophoresis;
• acupuncture;
• thermal procedures;
• extracorporeal hemocorrection( purification of blood);
• regulation of peripheral circulation;
• hyperbaric oxygenation( oxygen treatment in a pressure chamber);
• psychotherapy.

Easier to suffer severe attacks will help:

• warming the affected limb in warm water or woolen cloth;
• soft massage;
• warming drink.

This video describes an alternative treatment for the disease - magnetotherapy:

In those cases, when conservative treatment is impotent or the disease progresses rapidly, surgery is used. It consists in carrying out sympathectomy. During this operation, a part of the autonomic nervous system responsible for constriction of the blood vessels is removed.

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Forecasts and prevention measures

When eliminating the causes of the disease, the prediction for the primary Raynaud phenomenon is very favorable. In the case of secondary syndrome, everything will depend on the severity of the disease that caused the disease.

For preventive purposes it is recommended:

• refrain from smoking, drinking alcohol and coffee;
• eat right;
• to avoid stressful situations;
• take contrast baths - this restores the process of thermoregulation;
• to do massage of hands and feet;
• avoid hypothermia;
• take capsules of fish oil annually for three months.

Despite the fact that the causes of the appearance of Raynaud's syndrome are not completely known, one thing is clear: only the healthy lifestyle and caring for your body will help prevent this ailment .If you have the first signs of a syndrome, it is better to see a doctor right away. Treatment will be long, but effective and will save you from such terrible consequences as loss of limbs.