Vibration White Finger

British miners have been awarded compensation after they developed Vibration White Finger, a condition caused by working with vibrating machinery such as chain saws and drills. The condition is one form of Raynaud's Disease which affects one in 10 women, usually with mild symptoms. Women are nine times more likely to suffer from the disease as men. What is Raynaud's Disease?

Raynaud's is caused by a restriction in the blood supply to the extremities, usually the fingers and toes.

It can also affect the ears and nose. The parts initially turn white and dead-looking and then become inflamed. An attack may be accompanied by significant pain, numbness or a tingling sensation.

With Vibration White Finger (VWF), the fingers may go into spasm.

This is due to an intermittent lack of blood supply to the fingers.

The condition is usually not severe and attacks only cause minor discomfort. But it can lead to skin ulcers and even gangrene.

And it can be progressive over a period of several years.

VWF is triggered by continuous use of vibrating hand machinery, but some forms of primary Raynaud's have no trigger.

The disease can also be genetically inherited.

However, in these cases, the attacks are usually mild.

Secondary Raynaud's is less common and more severe. It is linked to underlying diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

What triggers attacks?

Prolonged exposure to the cold is a major trigger for the disease.

Smoking and stress are also thought to be factors and the disease can be caused by a reaction to beta blocker drugs.

People who work with vibrating machinery are more likely to develop VWF, which can become irreversible.

Vibration White finger (VWF) causes the fingers to become numb and begin turning white.

Symptoms include:

Tingling and numbness in the fingers which often continues after the machinery has been switched off;One fingertip temporarily turns white and may start to ache;The finger turns white with increasing frequency;Other fingers begin turning white, but the thumb is not usually affected. After several fingers turn white, the disease is probably irreversible;The person suffers increasingly frequent painful attacks at any time.Eventually, the person may lose their fingers. This only happens in extreme cases, for example, when people are working with vibrating machinery in very cold conditions, but it is more common in the forestry industry among people working with chainsaws.