Woman Times = Reporter Kwak Eun-young
During the cold winter months, many people visit the hospital complaining of cold hands and feet. Cold hands and feet seem natural due to the cold weather, but if your hands and feet are excessively cold and cold, it may be a peripheral vascular problem, so it is good to get tested. Kangdong Kyung Hee University Hospital, Professor Cho Seong-shin of the Vascular Surgery Department, learns about the symptoms and treatment of peripheral vascular circulatory disorders.
◇ Peripheral circulatory disorders occur more frequently in women
Raynaud’s syndrome is a representative peripheral blood circulation disorder that causes cold hands and feet. Due to the excessive response of the sympathetic nerve, peripheral blood vessels in the fingers and toes are extremely constricted, resulting in blood circulation disorders.
Raynaud’s syndrome is approximately twice as common in women as in men. Although women may have thinner blood vessels than men, there are various risk factors such as menarche, pregnancy, hormonal changes following childbirth, a history of exposure to cold water for household chores such as washing dishes, and blood flow to internal organs such as the uterus and ovaries.
If warm blood is not delivered to the fingertips and toes, the hands may become cold and cold, and the color of the fingers may change. Blood vessels constrict and the fingertips and toes turn white, and if this condition persists, cyanosis appears due to lack of oxygen and turns blue. Again, blood vessels relax and blood is delivered, turning red. In severe cases, oxygen supply to the fingertips and toes is not normally performed, which can lead to numbness, itching, and pain, and even skin necrosis.
If symptoms are suspected, a blood vessel function test that checks whether the peripheral blood flow rate and temperature returns within a few minutes after immersing the hand in cold water for a certain period of time, or immersing the hand in cold water and injecting an isotope drug to observe changes in the symptom site Diagnosis is made by nuclear medicine. The purpose of treatment is to relieve symptoms, and since most of the pain is mild, the symptoms are controlled with medication.
Professor Cho Seong-shin of the Vascular Surgery Department at Kyunghee University Hospital in Gangdong said, “It is good to avoid being exposed to cold air or cold water as much as possible by managing your body temperature well, and wear socks, slippers, and gloves to protect yourself. If the symptoms are severe, drug treatment is used to relieve symptoms, but when drugs are not well controlled, sympathetic nerve block is sometimes treated. If you are a smoker, you must quit smoking to prevent peripheral vasoconstriction.”
◇ Atherosclerosis causing cold feet and calf pain
Another factor that hinders peripheral blood circulation is arteriosclerosis. When one of the arteries, which is the way to send blood from the heart, is blocked, the amount of blood going to the peripheral blood vessels decreases and the hands or feet become cold. Arteriosclerosis is often accompanied by risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. The feet rather than the hands feel cold, and there are many cases where only one foot feels cold symptoms.
In the early stages, the main symptoms are cold feet and calf pain when walking or climbing stairs, but as the condition progresses, the pain is accompanied by black changes in the toes. Necrosis of the fingertips and toes progresses if proper diagnosis and treatment are not performed. If the treatment time is delayed, septicemia may occur, and in severe cases, a situation in which a leg must be amputated often occurs and death may occur, so caution is required.
Diagnosis is made by simultaneously measuring the blood pressure of both arms and legs while lying down, and measuring the ratio of ankle blood pressure to upper arm blood pressure. Treatments include making a small hole in the skin and inserting an instrument attached to a thin wire into the blood vessel to pierce the clogged blood vessel, incising the skin and creating a new path to bypass surgery to send blood to the periphery.
Professor Cho Sung-shin said, “If a blood vessel problem is diagnosed and treated at the right time, drug treatment is often sufficient. If you suspect the initial symptoms, it is good to visit the hospital to determine the exact cause.”