Fingers Turn Blue
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Try one of these related symptoms.
Numbness in fingers
Pale skin
Cold hands
Cold hands and feet
Finger joint pain
Circulation issues in hands
Fingers turn blue
Discoloration of fingers or toes
Fingers turn blue when cold
Bluish discoloration of the fingers
About the Symptom
Fingers turning blue (peripheral cyanosis) is when the hands, fingertips, or feet turn white or blue because they are not getting enough oxygen or blood.
When to See a Doctor
Seek professional care if you experience any of the following symptoms
- Hands and feet turn pale and blue
Possible Causes
Generally, Fingers turn blue can be related to:
- Tracheomalacia
Tracheomalacia literally translates to floppy airway (trachea) and happens when the tissues of the airway instead of being rigid and stiff, are weak and floppy, causing breathing difficulties. This can be due to intrinsic issues with tissues (cartilage) of the windpipe (trachea) itself or due to something in the chest pushing on the airway such as a blood vessel. As there are highly variable severities and types of tracheomalacia, the symptoms vary greatly as well.
- Buerger's Disease (Thromboangiitis Obliterans)
This is a rare inflammatory disease affecting the arms and legs due to blood clots of the small and medium-sized arteries and veins. It is not due to blockage from fats and cholesterols. It tends to happen in younger men who are heavy smokers and can lead to complete loss of blood to fingertips requiring amputation.
- Diabetic Gangrene
With this condition, a wound (often in the feet) does not heal well due to diabetes. Diabetes weakens circulation and the immune system resulting in poor wound healing. Diabetes also decreases sensation in the extremities so people often do not have pain or notice the tissue until it is completed dead. The tissue becomes black and dry appearing as it completely dies off. This wound may also become a source of infection leading to spread of infection to other parts of the body.
- Purpura Simplex
- IgA Vasculitis (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura)
- Scleroderma
Related Serious Diseases
Sometimes, Fingers turn blue may be related to these serious diseases:
- Acute Myocarditis
Acute myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium). It can affect anyone but is more common in infants and teenagers. It can impact the heart's ability to pump blood effectively and may cause rapid or irregular heart rhythm. It's usually caused by a viral infection, and sometimes by drug reactions or autoimmune disorders.
- Sepsis
- Myocardial Infarction (MI) / Unstable Angina
- Aortic Dissection / Aortic Aneurysm Rupture
Doctor's Diagnostic Questions
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this symptom:
- Do you have any bluish or pale skin?
- When did you first notice bluish or pale skin?
- How often have you experienced bluish or pale skin?
- Are your fingers or toes pale?
- How is your bluish or pale skin now?
Reviewed By:
Kenji Taylor, MD, MSc (Family Medicine, Primary Care)
Dr. Taylor is a Japanese-African American physician who grew up and was educated in the United States but spent a considerable amount of time in Japan as a college student, working professional and now father of three. After graduating from Brown, he worked in finance first before attending medical school at Penn. He then completed a fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control before going on to specialize in Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he was also a chief resident. After a faculty position at Stanford, he moved with his family to Japan where he continues to see families on a military base outside of Tokyo, teach Japanese residents and serve remotely as a medical director for Roots Community Health Center. He also enjoys editing and writing podcast summaries for Hippo Education.
Yoshinori Abe, MD (Internal Medicine)
Dr. Abe graduated from The University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 2015. He completed his residency at the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Longevity Medical Center. He co-founded Ubie, Inc. in May 2017, where he currently serves as CEO & product owner at Ubie. Since December 2019, he has been a member of the Special Committee for Activation of Research in Emergency AI of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. | | Dr. Abe has been elected in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science category.
Content updated on Feb 6, 2025
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
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Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Pahal P, Goyal A. Central and Peripheral Cyanosis. 2021 Oct 9. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan–. PMID: 32644593.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559167/Gupta A, Gupta R, Kumar V, Samarany S. Blue Toes at High Altitude: Peripheral Cyanosis. Am J Med. 2020 May;133(5):573-575. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2019.08.057. Epub 2019 Oct 24. PMID: 31668899.
https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(19)30878-2/fulltextBaranoski GVG, Van Leeuwen SR, Chen TF. On the detection of peripheral cyanosis in individuals with distinct levels of cutaneous pigmentation. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2017 Jul;2017:4260-4264. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2017.8037797. PMID: 29060838.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8037797