Differentiation
Fingers often turn white in cold temperatures because of the vascularization and poor blood supply to the fingers. If the fingers warm up again, the vessels dilate and the fingers become reddish again. Blue fingers occur as a result of a lack of oxygen supply.
For a short period of time, the fingers can become blue in the context of Raynaud’s syndrome. Long-term blue coloration can be caused by the so-called acrocyanosis. The term “acra” contained in the word stands for “body ends”, which means that fingers, toes, noses and ears can be affected.
In contrast to Raynaud’s syndrome, acrocyanosis causes a long-lasting vascular spasm (vasospasm). The arterial vessels are cramped and the small venous vessels that carry the blood back to the heart are dilated. As a result, the oxygen-poor blood in the wide venous vessels virtually stops and a blue discoloration of the fingers occurs.
Frequently, very cold outside temperatures in winter cause numbness in the fingers. When you get back into the warmth, the symptoms subside and the fingers start throbbing and sometimes tingling painfully. The numbness is caused by the fact that the vascular muscles contract when it is cold, and especially peripheral areas of the body, such as the hands or feet, are poorly supplied with blood.
This process serves to keep the core of the body warm and prevents unnecessary heat from being released to the outside. A feeling of numbness can also occur if the patient remains in a mostly uncomfortable position, often while sleeping. Often the blood flow is restricted in these positions and a part of the body is undersupplied.
In most cases, however, the nerve is the trigger for the numbness. If there is increased pressure on the nerves due to the position taken. By moving the limbs, the blood flow is stimulated again or the pressure on the nerves is removed and the numbness disappears again.
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