What is Vibration White Finger?

ibration white finger is known by many simply as white finger syndrome and vibration white finger is its more professionally known name. Also known as VWF for short, it is a common problem with people who work in industries such as building or road maintenance and some other jobs where machinery or power tools are commonly used. VWF occurs due to very strong vibrations from tools repeatedly and at long periods of time and the condition can worsen the longer the tools are used.

There are only two real symptoms of vibration white finger however they are quite uncomfortable for the person they occur to. The first is colour changing and or discolouration in the fingers. The other symptom which is the one which causes more problems is spasms of the fingers and sometimes even the hands. The spasms can happen at any time and as well as being quite embarrassing for sufferers; they can also make it extremely difficult to carry out otherwise simple tasks.

The prolonged vibrations affect the circulation of blood into the hands and fingers and the lack of blood can cause loss of feeling and control. As well as the loss of control and feeling the blood vessels also go into spasm which causes the colour alteration. In most cases VWF is set off by a trigger such as cold temperatures and once this subsides, the discolouration normally does too.

Though it is usually triggers which set off VWF, this isn’t always the case and sometimes it can happen at random and with no trigger at all. If this does happen then the person suffering has no choice but to wait for the symptom to rectify itself. If a change in temperature causes the problem then keeping the hands and fingers warm can help to stop it before it progresses any further.

There isn’t any way to get rid of VWF once someone has it however there are ways to limit how often it has an effect and how severe it is. The best way to prevent it is to keep the hands warm when there is a threat of cold weather and also to stop using the equipment which has caused the problem if it is realistic to do so.

Get more information on white finger syndrome.