#health #feet

Erythromelalgia is a rare condition that primarily affects the feet and, less commonly, the hands (extremities). It is characterized by intense, burning pain of affected extremities, severe redness (erythema) and increased skin temperature that may be episodic or almost continuous in nature.
Disease Overview
Erythromelalgia is a rare condition that primarily affects the feet and, less commonly, the hands (extremities). It is characterized by intense, burning pain of affected extremities, severe redness (erythema) and increased skin temperature that may be episodic or almost continuous in nature. (The prefix “erythro-” denotes redness, “mel-” is a combining form meaning limb or limbs and the suffix “-algia” indicates pain.) Although erythromelalgia typically affects both sides of the body (bilateral), it may sometimes involve only one side (unilateral). The disease course may be extremely variable from person to person.
In most individuals, it is episodic/intermittent, with episodes of painful red-hot feet and/or hands intermittently. Symptom onset may be gradual (insidious), with the condition potentially remaining relatively mild for years. However, in others, it may have a sudden (acute) onset, and becoming severe over weeks or months.
The specific underlying cause of erythromelalgia remains unknown. Erythromelalgia is thought to result from vasomotor abnormalities or dysfunction in the normal narrowing (constriction) and widening (dilation) of the diameter (caliber) of certain blood vessels, leading to abnormalities of blood flow to the extremities. Erythromelalgia may be an isolated, primary condition or occur secondary to various underlying disorders. Primary erythromelalgia may appear to occur randomly for unknown reasons (sporadically) or may be familial, suggesting autosomal dominant inheritance.