Protect your hands

You must have often heard your relatives or acquaintances saying that their fingers become numb in cold or snowy weather and often turn blue and swollen and cause severe pain. Sometimes, when one spends a lot of time in snowy weather, fingers turn black. Have you ever wondered why this happens?

People suffering from Raynaud's disease should avoid cold and ice

People suffering from Raynaud's disease, 90% of whom are women, should protect their fingers in cold weather. People who are associated with the food preservation industry should also take special care of their hands in cold weather. The hands of these people come in contact with cold and hot water frequently. People who use rotating tools like drilling machines, mixers or hair dryers in beauty parlours or spend a lot of time on pianos, harmoniums and typing machines should also protect their hands in icy cold weather.

Patients with diabetes should take extra care

Due to the continuous accumulation of fat and calcium in the pure blood vessels of the hands of diabetic patients, the supply of pure blood is already less, and it reduces even more when cold hits them. If carelessness is shown, the fingers of the hands turn black. Therefore, diabetic patients should always keep their hands clean and dry. Always keep their hands covered with cotton or woollen gloves in cold and snowy weather. Never apply heat to the hands with an electric heater or a hot water bottle! Go for a morning walk only when the sun is shining! If black colour or a black scab is seen in the fingers of the hand, then immediately contact a vascular surgeon.

Tobacco chewers and smokers should be careful in winters

You must have noticed that often people who smoke hookah, tobacco and cigarettes have one or two fingers that are black or already cut. Often in extreme cold, the redness or tingling sensation in the hands of such people increases, and sometimes the pain becomes unbearable. The blood pipes of the hands of such people are already constricted due to the nicotine of tobacco, and on top of that, the supply of whatever blood is left in the hand is completely disrupted due to exposure to cold and frosty air. The result is gangrene and wounds in the fingers. Such patients should completely stop consuming tobacco and smoking. If the pain is becoming unbearable and the colour of the fingers is turning black, then definitely consult an experienced vascular or cardiovascular surgeon; otherwise, in such circumstances, there can be a situation of losing fingers.

Vasculitis patients should take special care of their hands

The arrival of winter brings problems in the hands of patients suffering from vasculitis, i.e., inflammation of the walls of blood pipes of the hand. In winter, the walls of blood pipes swell, and often blood clots accumulate in the swollen blood pipes, and the flow of pure blood is completely blocked, and fingers of the hands may turn black. Such patients should protect their hands from cold and use some special medicines so that the clots do not accumulate in the blood vessels. Vasculitis patients should contact a vascular surgeon before the onset of winter and keep taking advice.

The writer is a Senior Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi. E-mail: [email protected]