Red Hands and Blue Feet

I have red hands and blue feet. No, this isn’t some kind of political statement, symbolically depicting my radical moderateness—it’s a medical condition. This unusual color combination occurs because the capillaries in my extremities react too greatly when exposed to cold. They go into vasospasm: first my blood vessels narrow, next my blood flow is restricted, my feet or hands turn white, then yellow, then finally purple and blue. As the blood flow returns my skin flushes with color, ending as a bright red.  Most of the time my hands warm quickly and my feet stay cold, meaning I usually have red hands and blue feet.

It’s called Raynaud’s phenomenon and luckily it’s only a minor condition. I’ll be able to cope with some fuzzy socks and an electric blanket.

When my grandma heard I had Raynaud’s, her first question was, “Honey, did you look it up on the internet?” Of course I did. The moment I returned from the doctor I was looking up information on WebMD. Before my doctor diagnosed me I had

image by Tcal at en.wikipedia

also Google searched “why are my feet blue and numb?”

What if I had been diagnosed before internet ? I surely wouldn’t trek all the way to the public library to check out what Reynaud’s was. I would take the lazy way out and take my doctor’s word for truth. If I doubted him, I would see another specialist.

This article from the OECD Observer comments on how the internet has changed the way patients access medical information.