Investigation and Treatment of Raynauds syndrome:

As with all medical problems, the most important thing is to see an expert and have a full medical history taken and examination performed.

● Your age

● How often it occurs

● When it started

● How severe it gets

● What makes it better

● Does it run in your family

● Do you smoke

● Are you on any medication

● What other medical conditions have you had

Your arms and neck will be examined in different positions and moving.

Investigations:

We will perform a specialised Duplex Ultrasound Examination, which will tell us immediately what the blood flow is like in your arteries.

By moving your arms, we can check if there is anything pushing on the arteries or trapping them and causing the Raynauds Phenomenon.

We will perform a specialised battery of blood tests to see if your blood has anything in it which is causing the problem.

Treatment:

The treatment of the condition varies widely depending on what the history, examination and investigation show.

From the simple end, it might end up just be reassurance that nothing major is going wrong and advice on how to reduce the symptoms.

Sometime medication is needed - usually only tablets but rarely injections.

Occasionally more complex investigations or operations might be required. However, the initial histroy examination and investigations will indicate whether this might be the case and everything will be explained to you before any more complex investigations or procedures are arranged.