Raynaud's phenomenon - Symptoms of Raynaud's

The main symptoms of Raynaud's are changes to the skin colour in the affected areas.

These changes to the skin usually happen in three stages:

• stage one: the affected body part turns white because blood supply is restricted 
• stage two: it then turns blue due to lack of oxygen – during this phase the body part can feel cold and numb
• stage three: the body part turns red as the blood returns at a higher rate than normal – during this stage you may feel a tingling or throbbing sensation, and there may be some swelling in the affected body part

These symptoms gradually disappear as the flow of blood returns to normal.

An ‘attack’ of Raynaud’s can last from several minutes to several hours.

The most commonly affected areas of the body are the fingers and toes. Sometimes only a few fingers or toes may be affected. Other parts of the body that can be affected by Raynaud’s include the ears and nose.