The name Raynaud’s disease does not mean anything to most people. For the same reason, having heard such a diagnosis, it is difficult to immediately understand how to behave. But this fact does not exclude the likelihood that someone may encounter a situation where help to the patient with this disease will be needed.
This is not the most common disease, but it will still be useful to find out what Raynaud’s disease is, the symptoms and treatment of this disease, including treatment with folk remedies.
What it is?
Raynaud's disease (ICD 10 - code I73.0) is a rare disease of arteries in the extremities.
The main manifestation of this disease is a sharp contraction of the walls of the arteries. As a result, in some area of the affected limb, nutrition ceases due to a sharp decrease in the amount of incoming blood. Then the color of the site changes. It is a change in skin color that is one of the main visual signs of Raynaud's disease.
The most common localization of the disease is the peripheral parts of the limbs, that is, the feet on the feet and hands on the hands. The defeat of the limbs in most cases occurs symmetrically.
Although the disease is rare, it is necessary to find out the factors that cause Raynaud's disease, the symptoms and treatment of this disease. It will also be interesting to sort out the terminology a bit. For example, see the difference between Raynaud's disease and Raynaud's syndrome.
Regardless of whether you have to face a disease, a willingness to fight it will never hurt.
Raynaud's disease: causes and predisposing factors
The causes of this disease are currently not well understood. But observations show that some factors can be identified that significantly increase the risk of developing the disease. These factors include:
- Hypothermia. The disease is more likely to occur in people whose arms and legs are often cold. In addition, symptoms sometimes disappear when a person moves to a place where the climate is warmer than in a place where the symptoms of the disease appear.
- Injuries. Physical injuries are also dangerous, which include excessive compression of the limbs, excessive and intense stress, and injuries associated with exposure to chemicals. In cases where a sick person needs to deal with such factors by occupation, it is advisable to change his job or at least reduce the load.
- Smoking.
- Excessive emotional stress, great stress.
- Impaired functioning of the endocrine organs.
As the medical history often shows, Raynaud's disease often develops in women under 40 years of age. People who have migraine attacks are also affected.
Raynaud's syndrome and disease: what is the difference?
There is the term "Raynaud's disease" and "Raynaud's syndrome." It is widely believed that these are simply different names for the same phenomenon or disease. But in reality, such a statement is not entirely true.
Raynaud's disease is an independent disease. Raynaud's syndrome is a syndrome that is a manifestation of other diseases, especially often observed in patients with systemic scleroderma or in the presence of pathological characteristics of connective tissue.
Reynaud's syndrome and disease differ not only in etiology, but also in manifestations. Although the symptoms are almost the same, but with Raynaud's syndrome, they do not appear so quickly, their appearance is not so expressive, lesions of the extremities are rarely symmetrical. The history usually refers to the presence of other vascular or autoimmune diseases in humans.
And, of course, the treatment of these conditions varies. With Raynaud's syndrome, it is necessary to treat the underlying disease, with Raynaud's disease - this disease. Therefore, it is worth considering separately Raynaud's disease, symptoms and treatment of this particular nosological form.
Stages of the development of the disease
There are three stages of the development of Raynaud's disease.
At the first stage of the disease, the tone of the vascular walls increases, that is, hypertonicity of the arteries of the extremities occurs. Because of this, their short-term spasm may occur. At the same time, the skin of the affected area noticeably turns pale, becomes cold, the patient feels acute pain, but sensitivity to external stimuli is lost. The attack usually does not last long, after it the pain disappears, the skin color returns to normal. Such phenomena are the main symptoms of the disease at this stage.
The second stage is characterized by the addition to the listed symptoms of other symptoms of the disease. For example, the skin color at this stage is no longer just pale, but with a bluish tint, the skin color becomes “marbled”. On the affected limbs, the appearance of swelling is possible, especially in areas that are affected by the disease. The pain during an attack becomes stronger and more intense.
The duration of the first two stages of Raynaud's disease is up to 5 years.
During the third stage, necrosis or tissue death begins in the affected areas of the limbs. Since blood circulation is already disturbed very much, the resulting wounds heal very poorly, and often do not heal at all and begin to suppurate. As a result, there are also problems associated with the attachment of secondary infections, and in severe cases with the development of sepsis.
In addition to local manifestations, often people with Raynaud's disease have complaints of a neurotic nature. They can talk about problems with sleep, headache, a feeling of heaviness in the limbs.
How to diagnose a disease
In order to determine the presence of Raynaud's disease, several points are evaluated:
- How disturbed is blood circulation. Particular attention should be paid to the study of blood supply to the extremities, their peripheral parts.
- Are lesions symmetrical? In Raynaud’s disease, in the vast majority of cases, they will be symmetrical.
- How long do the patient's complaints appear, similar to symptoms of Raynaud's disease? An accurate diagnosis is possible if the symptoms appear over a period of not less than 2 years.
Special samples are also used:
- Capillaroscopy - the nail bed is examined. With this study, you can visually see the present changes in the arteries, both structural and functional.
- Cold samples - the limbs are dipped for 2 or three minutes in cold water (approximately 10 ° C), and then their condition is assessed.
But we should not forget that the diagnosis is not so simple - it implies the exclusion of about 70 types of diseases in which Raynaud's syndrome may be present. And this is very important in order to choose the right treatment option.
Treatment methods
The disease is rarely diagnosed, so the question of how to treat Raynaud's disease, or rather how to do it correctly, with the greatest effectiveness, is discussed from different points of view. As mentioned above, first of all, dozens of other diseases with similar symptoms should be excluded. Regarding how Raynaud's disease manifests itself, symptoms and treatment - reviews are varied, but they allow you to determine the main aspects of this issue.
Treatment is aimed at eliminating the already manifesting symptoms of the disease and preventing seizures, eliminating provoking factors.
The first stage of Raynaud's disease requires only conservative treatment. When an attack occurs, it is removed by making a warm bath, wrapping up the area on which the attack has developed, or the limb of the patient is massaged.
In order to prevent the development of seizures, it is necessary to exclude or at least limit the influence of hypothermia, trauma, excessive emotional stress.
It is necessary to know what symptoms of Raynaud's disease have, and treatment with drugs should be prescribed in a timely manner. So, drug treatment is prescribed when a vasodilator effect is required. For this, various vasodilator drugs are used. If wounds and necrotic areas are present, the appointment of drugs that promote wound healing is necessary. Treatment with drugs is relevant for the first few years, then attacks of spasm of the vessels of the limbs lose their sensitivity to the drug.
In such cases, surgical intervention is indicated - sympathectomy. The essence of this treatment is the surgical removal of nerve fibers that are responsible for arising spasms of blood vessels. There are several options for surgical treatment, the most suitable one is chosen by the attending physician depending on the particular course of the disease in this patient.
Some people who have been diagnosed with this are studying Raynaud's disease, symptoms and treatment with folk remedies. This question deserves serious study. Patients with a diagnosis of Raynaud's disease treatment with folk remedies often helps to alleviate the condition, so it will be useful to consider some of them.
Tincture of elecampane high
To prepare the tincture, you need one bottle of vodka and 30 grams of crushed elecampane root. All this is mixed and placed in a cool place. After two weeks, the medicine is ready for use, it remains only to strain.
Tincture is taken three times a day, the dose for each dose is two tablespoons. The entire course of treatment requires a half liter of tincture.
Fir Essential Oil
When diagnosed with Raynaud's disease, treatment with folk remedies often involves the use of fir essential oil. Fir oil is used both externally and for oral administration.
A good therapeutic effect has the intake of fir baths for patients. To do this, add 5 or 6 drops of fir essential oil to the bath. Water temperature should be moderate, close to 37 ° C. The time for taking such a bath is approximately 15 minutes.
For oral administration, oil (1 or 2 drops) is dripped onto a piece of bread and swallowed quickly. But at the same time, it is important to exclude contact of the oil with tooth enamel and remember that there may be contraindications for this method of treatment for some diseases of the stomach, intestines, pancreas.
Onions and honey for Raynaud's disease
To prepare the medicine, take an equal amount of honey and onion juice, mix thoroughly. The mixture is ready for use immediately after preparation.
The course of treatment is 3 weeks. During this time, a tablespoon of the medicine should be taken three times each day. Each meal should be an hour before meals.
If treatment needs to be continued, the course of treatment can be repeated. But it is imperative to take a two-week break.
Needles, dogrose, honey and onion peel
This mixture is more difficult to prepare.
Essential Ingredients:
- young pine needles (you can also use needles of spruce, fir or juniper), pre-chopped;
- 5 tablespoons of honey;
- 3 tablespoons of wild rose;
- 3 tablespoons of onion peel.
All ingredients must be mixed and poured with water (liter per amount corresponding to that described above). The mixture is boiled for 10 minutes, poured into a thermos and left to stand one night. After the medicine has been infused, it must be filtered.
The mixture is taken in half a glass. Every day, the reception is repeated 4 times.
When using this treatment option, you must be extremely careful, and it is best to replace it with another option for people who suffer from diseases of the stomach or pancreas.
Infusion of marsh rosemary
To prepare the medicine, you need to take two tablespoons of chopped rosemary and 5 tablespoons of sunflower oil, mix and infuse for 12 hours in a sealed container or container.
While the mixture is being infused, it needs to be stirred from time to time and made sure that the temperature of the mixture remains warm. When the medicine is infused, it must be filtered. After that, it is ready to use.
The infusion is used externally - it is used for baths and in the form of compresses.
Herbal harvest
Effective in the treatment of Raynaud’s disease is considered a herbal collection, which includes such medicinal herbs: garden rue, creeping thyme and lemon balm.
To prepare it, take root and thyme in equal amounts and about one and a half times more lemon balm herb. It all mixes up. A teaspoon is taken from the mixture and poured with one glass of boiling water, infused for 2 hours (preferably in a thermos bottle - to maintain a high temperature throughout the entire preparation of the medicine). Then the mixture must be thoroughly filtered.
The remaining liquid is divided into parts of 50 ml each and drunk in four doses over one day.
A mixture of honey and garlic
To prepare the mixture you need to take honey and garlic gruel in equal amounts, mix together. The mixture is placed in a dish, which is very tightly closed, insist for two weeks. It needs to be mixed from time to time.
After the mixture is infused, it must be taken 3 times every day half an hour before a meal. The course of treatment lasts two months. If treatment needs to be continued, the course is repeated after a month's break.
Using traditional methods of treatment, it is important to remember that Raynaud's disease, symptoms and treatment can not be ignored, it is impossible to be limited only to alternative methods. Moreover, many of them can have side effects. Careful medical supervision, monitoring the course of the disease, drug treatment are necessary. Only with complex treatment is it possible to achieve the best result.
Of great importance is the good awareness of the sick person about the disease. Before choosing a treatment option, it is best to familiarize yourself with information about what Raynaud's disease is (photos showing the symptoms of the lesion can be found in the medical guide), and what are the results of the various treatment options.