What are the initial symptoms of scleroderma/systemic sclerosis?

Raynaud's: Tight skin is characteristic but there can be a variety of other symptoms such as raynaud's whihc is usually the first symptom, shortness of breath, chest pain, trouble swallowing, other GI symptoms, etc. Each person with scleroderma has a different set of symptoms and different type of scleroderma involvement.

Skin, circulation: Scleroderma means, "hard skin." the skin may be thickened, and later hard, on the hands or face as well as the arms legs and trunk. Other people have patches of hard skin that are round or linear. Another common symptom is raynaud's phenomenon which causes the fingers (or toes) to turn white, then blue, and sometimes red when exposed to cold, caffeine, stress, etc. Other symptoms also exist.

Some things like : Patients may experience raynaud phenomenon, where fingers turn white, then blue, then red upon exposure to cold or stress. Prior to skin thickening, they may develop edema and pain of the hands. Another thing to look for is dilated capillaries in the cuticles of the nails.