Treatment

Dressing for the cold in layers and wearing gloves or heavy socks usually are effective in dealing with mild symptoms of Raynaud's. Medications are available to treat more-severe forms of the condition. The goals of treatment are to:

• Reduce the number and severity of attacks
• Prevent tissue damage
• Treat the underlying disease or condition

Medications

Depending on the cause of your symptoms, medications might help. To widen blood vessels and increase blood flow, your doctor might prescribe:

• Calcium channel blockers. These drugs relax and open small blood vessels in your hands and feet, reducing the severity and number of attacks in most people with Raynaud's. These drugs can also help heal skin ulcers on your fingers or toes. Examples include nifedipine (Adalat CC, Procardia), amlodipine (Norvasc), felodipine and isradipine.
• Vasodilators. These drugs, which relax blood vessels, include nitroglycerin cream (Nitro-Dur) applied to the base of your fingers to help heal skin ulcers. Other vasodilators include the high blood pressure drug losartan (Cozaar), the erectile dysfunction medication sildenafil (Viagra, Revatio), the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) and a class of medications called prostaglandins.

Surgeries and medical procedures

If you have severe Raynaud's, your doctor may recommend surgery or injections.

• Nerve surgery. Sympathetic nerves in your hands and feet control the opening and narrowing of blood vessels in your skin. Cutting these nerves interrupts their exaggerated responses.

  Through small incisions in the affected hands or feet, a doctor strips these tiny nerves around the blood vessels. This surgery, if successful, might lead to fewer and shorter attacks.

• Chemical injection. Doctors can inject chemicals such as local anesthetics or onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) to block sympathetic nerves in affected hands or feet. You might need to have the procedure repeated if symptoms return or persist.