Raynaud Phenomenon

Raynaud phenomenon, also known as Raynaud syndrome, is a medical condition in which spasm of small arteries causes episodes of reduced blood flow, typically affecting the fingers and less commonly the toes. The episodes classically result in the affected part turning white and then blue, often with numbness or pain, and as blood flow returns the area turns red and burns. The episodes typically last minutes but can last several hours. The condition is named after the physician Auguste Gabriel Maurice Raynaud, who first described it in his doctoral thesis in 1862.