Raynaud’s syndrome
Monica suffers from an extremely rare disorder, known as Raynaud’s syndrome that leaves some of her fingers completely white. Raynaud’s syndrome is a rare disorder that usually affects the blood vessels of fingers and toes. It causes a narrowing of the blood vessels when you are either stressed or feeling cold. This keeps the blood from getting to the surface of the skin, making the areas turn white or blue. Similarly, Monica’s fingers would turn white every time the temperature would be cool.
Julie O’Mahony, 23, shared a photo of her mother’s fingers on twitter about a week ago.
When Julie first posted the photo she didn’t expect so many others to come forward with the same condition. Her post got more than 32,000 likes and thousands of comments from people saying they have the same disorder.
According to Julie, Monica’s condition would usually get worse with sudden drops in temperature. “This usually happens to my mum in winter or when there’s a sudden drop in temperature,” she said. She further added that the condition is most definitely at its worst in January. She would wear gloves to keep the condition at bay but if the temperature is below 2 or 3 degrees, it would happen regardless of wearing gloves.
Once her fingers start returning back to its normal colour, she experiences excruciating pain. “She describes the feeling as horrendous pins and needles, at its best she describes it as uncomfortable and at its worst, it’s very painful,” said Julie.
It normally takes around an hour or so for her fingers to return back to normal.
Monica’s been suffering with the condition for over a decade now. And she gets a hint when it’s about to start. The two fingers that are usually affected in her case are the two middle fingers in both hands. However, sometimes other fingers are also involved.
Julie said, “When she knows it’s about to start and she’s at home, she will put her hands in warm water to prevent it but of course, that’s not possible when she’s outside, which is when it happens most often.”
Monica is currently under prescription medication for her condition.
References
Mum’s Fingers Turn Completely White Thanks To Rare Disorder https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-mums-fingers-turn-completely-white-thanks-to-rare-disorder-20210426
