I was doing some maintenance on the 55 softy tank and I removed a rock to try and get rid of some bubble algae. I carefully picked the bubbles off, put the rock back in the tank and felt some tingling in my hand. I went to the sink, washed up, and noticed this. In 10 years I have never seen something like this. Should I be concerned? It doesn't hurt or anything and I have no symptoms of a reaction other than purple fingers.
BTW, normal color is slowly coming back but my thumb (the only finger that didn't change color) is numb. Only the tip though, not the whole thing. This is so odd.
I dont think it's that. None of the causes are there. I think it was just some odd thing and everything is better now.
There are indeed diseases that can cause "Raynaud's Phenomenon" but RP sometimes is unexplained. The reason why I think its "RP" is because of this; Your body temperature is 98 degrees and our salt water tanks are usually much much cooler around 76-82 degrees. In "RP" temperature influx can cause your fingers to become quickly stimulated to the temperature change, closing off your blood vessels to your stimulated areas, which results in limited blood to your fingers and they first turn white. Next your fingers will turn purple or blue because as blood rushes back in, they get d-oxygenated quickly. Once oxygen is restored, your fingers turn back to normal color. If you have ever taken your fingers or arms and have cut off circulation for awhile and let the blood come back, you will feel a numbing sensation. Its similar to when you have your arm cuffed for BP checks. So i think you just experienced an Raynaud's Phenomenon. Might be disease related or might not but its definitely not normal. That is my speculation only. Could be any number of things but based off what you've given us in information and picture wise. Thats all I can help with. Palytoxins generally are destructive and those who get poisoned experience a ton of pain XD
I have exposed myself to some pretty extreme temperatures in the past. I used to go gold dredging and panning in Alaska year round regardless of weather. If it was winter I would spend one day breaking ice and the next day dredging. If it was summer, I got more dredge time in but the water was faster so sometimes I couldn't get where I wanted. I got hypothermia pretty bad once in '08. It was to the point that I quit shivering and started slurring my speech. Luckily I was with my dad and he noticed it and pulled me out of the stream. Apparently I didnt fully zip my dry suit and was taking water in. I didn't know it, I just thought that I was having a difficult time warming up that morning. With all that said, bare hands in Alaskan streams was very common for me in the summer.
That doesn't look quite like the cases of Raynaud's that I've seen. It almost looks more like ecchymosis or a vasculitis. How long did it take for the color to return to normal? Palytoxin can be a vasoconstrictor but topical is not the usual method of introduction (usually ingestion or inhaled such as in dummies cooking rock with it on it). That is really weird John.
It was purple for 1.5-2 hours before I posted the second picture. I don't know how long it was until I regained full color. I agree, it is weird. I wasn't concerned with palytoxin but I was stumped as to the cause.
