Circulation

hey, bit of a dumb question here, but someone told me that if you press on your skin and it turns white and takes a long time to return to colour you have bad circulation. Just wondering if its true

 

I believe they were talking about capillary refill. Cap refill is when you blanche the finger or other appropriate area such as the tip of the nose or an earlobe by pressing down on it. If your skin does not return to its base color in the span of two seconds that does indicate that there are problems with perfusion. Very few people have problems with perfusion without massive problems with the cardiac or pulmonary systems.

 

Unless they have particular medical conditions of course. Diabetics and smokers (peripheral vascular disease) have this problem.

 

Yes, however, you don't manifest bad cap refill until such a point that there is massive problems in the delivery of oxygen, which generally manifests in either pulmonary distress or the end stages of heart failure. PVD is common in DM II, smokers, CHF and in some cases renal failure. However I have yet to see someone with truely bad cap refill. Not that I won't eventually.

 

So is there an easy "test" for this?

I tried it on my finger and it took more than 2 seconds to completely "refill"..

 

That's how we check if someone's skin is sunburnt, before the red colour manifests.

 

That is the easy test. Are your limbs cool to the touch and where are you blanching?

If you are concerned go to the doctor.

 

When it gets really cold in winter, my index fingers go really pale and 'waxy' looking, like a corpse, and don't go pink again until they warm up. Would that be a case of bad capilliary refill - or worse?

I don't know anyone else who gets this. :cry:

 

That's your body trying to conserve its heat where it matters most...at the core. Therefore, it will reduce (not cease) the amount of blood flow to the periphery, as blood is a transporter of heat. Don't worry too much.

 

So does that mean that my body is actually working BETTER than most peoples'?

 

Hahaahaaa it's something that everyones should be doing! Its called maintaining homeostasis, but don't worry about it.

I think if something WERE wrong, you'd know about it.

 

So basically, I'm better at 'maintaining homeostasis' than most people?

 

you're as fit as a fiddle.

 

I wouldn't worry over much about it. If its not painful and you aren't getting trouble with infections or cramping then its probably nothing serious. If you are really concerned, go to a doctor.

 

Cool!

 

LOL Homo

 

I would have expected a more postive contribution from a doctor!

 

no

 

Too late mate - it's in my profile now!

 

lol