A woman's hands have gone viral after depicting what it's like living with an extremely rare disorder that leaves some of her fingers completely white.
Julie O'Mahony, 23, shared a photo of her mum's hands on Twitter last week, writing: "Is it not the freakiest thing you've ever seen?"
Her mum, Monica, suffers from Raynaud's Syndrome, a rare disorder of the blood vessels which sees them narrow when a person is cold or feeling stressed.
As a result, blood is unable to get to the surface of the skin, meaning the affected areas turn white and blue.
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Julie, from Cork City, explained that whenever it's cold outside and her mum doesn't wear gloves, her fingers go completely white and she is no longer able to feel them.
Her post has since racked up more than 32,000 likes and more than a thousand comments, with many social media users saying they have the same disorder.
Julie said: "My mum suffers from a condition known as Raynaud's Syndrome and has had it for around 20 years.
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"It causes the blood vessels in her fingers to narrow so blood can't get to the surface of the skin, causing them to go completely white and numb.
"This usually happens to my mum in winter or when there's a sudden drop in temperature.
"It's definitely at its worst in January.
"Sometimes gloves help but if it's anything below two-three degrees, it'll happen regardless if she's wearing them or not."
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Once the feeling and colour begins to return to Monica's fingers, she is left in a lot of pain.
Julie continued: "She describes the feeling as horrendous pins and needles, at its best she describes it as uncomfortable and at its worst, it's very painful.
"It normally takes around an hour or so for the pain to stop and for the full feeling to come back."
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Having suffered from the condition for two decades, Monica now knows when it's about to start - and that it typically affects the two fingers in the middle of both hands, but can sometimes happen to all of her fingers.
Julie said: "When she knows it's about to start and she's at home, she will put her hands in warm water to prevent it but of course, that's not possible when she's outside, which is when it happens most often."
Julie has been shocked by the response to her Twitter post, saying her mum has become something of a local celebrity because of it.
She said: "A lot of people have replied with their own experience with Raynaud's and the post took off from there.
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"Safe to say my mum is more shocked than I am. She's not too familiar with Twitter but when I said it got over 30,000 likes, her jaw more or less hit the floor.
"She's had so many people come up to her in our local town saying her weird fingers are famous!"
While Julie said she's received plenty of 'unsolicited medical advice' from strangers - stressing that Monica has been the doctor and is on medication - some people commented with tips that help them.
One person wrote: "Raynaud's Syndrome - it's torture. I now have rechargeable hand warmers that I need to bring everywhere. Even in summer."
Featured Image Credit: Jam Press