Hi Everyone,
I just found out I have something called Achenbach's Syndrome, which is characterized by spontaneous rupture of the capillaries in the fingers or palm of the hands. It feels and looks like a sudden bruise and can be caused by something as simple as turning a doorknob, or by nothing at all! I've had this all my life and never knew what it was.
Apparently, there's not much info on it, but one site said people with it seem to have more autoimmune diseases. I am wondering if this is another issue connected to my Sjogren's. It is considered benign and somewhat rare.
Anyone else ever heard of this or experienced it?
yes sometimes it happens to me but I heard also some friends having the same and did not ask any info to my docs. may be it does not happens as often as it happens to you. has it any consequence around the body??? I mean the capillaries break just on hands or it can take to the rupture also in other parts of the body??? I have enough of this autoimmune disease!!!!!
It is always something! And then it's Achenbach's Syndrome!
Who knew.
Something I've missed, (so far).
It's always good to have a 'name' for what's going on, and fellow sufferers, if nothing else.
Regards, Elaine
I?ve had spontaneous bruising in my hands since I was a teenager and never knew there was a name for it. I always assumed it had something to do with my Raynaud's.
Sometimes it?s annoying and temporarily tender but it?s never been a real problem. Is yours causing you problems?
I googled and the medical journal articles all mentioned it was rare. I?ve never mentioned this to any of my doctors and I suspect many patients don?t mention it to theirs either so perhaps it?s not so rare? The articles all mentioned it?s completely benign so there?s nothing to worry about.
Thanks to all who answered about this. Apparently the capillary breakage can happen on the feet also, but I've never had that happen (I am happy to say). Since it is apparently benign, I am choosing not to worry about it. It was just one of those mysteries that, once again, seems to be related to autoimmune disorders (is anything NOT related?).
Nancy
hi, 15 days ago I had a capillary breakage on one finger of my left hand. I had the same in the past but this time it is different, after a few days where the capillary broke it became swollen, not all the finger, just there intuit point. I use my hands a lot, washing and cleaning so I thought that may be I hit it, but today I had some pain so I went to the doctor, the one who deals with veins etc.
he told me that that happens quite often to women but then he looked to my fingers and he said that there was something strange . he asked me to lift my hands and then put them down and he said you see? the top of your fingers is reddish and when you lift them they become whiter but when you put them down they should remain like that not reddish. so I said the magic words... I have sjogren. ah ok now I understand he said. this is typical of a connetivitis, your peripheral vessels are inflamed. I said that my two capillaroscopies where normal and he sent me to make a third one.
I asked if it is dangerous, wondering that if my fingers vessels break, may be they could break also in the brain..... he said no, usually if your blood pressure is ok nothing should happen.
I am assuming that your doc mentioning connectivitis is referring to the connective tissue. Connective tissue diseases refer to Sjogrens, RA, Lupus, Scleroderma and a couple others which I forget at the moment. The connective tissue is all the tissues in our bodies which basically hold our body together. The connective tissue is the "glue" or tissue that holds our muscles, ligaments, just about everything together in our body. So, when we have connective tissue autoimmune disease one can see how we can have so many symptoms all over our bodies. You can do a search on connective tissue disease and find out more. Irish
I never knew there was a name for it, but yes, I have that happen several times a year. Very painful. Yet another gift.