Dealing With Cold Hands

My hands get cold anytime the temperature drops below about 70 degrees. And when I say cold – I mean COLD. It almost seems as if my hands are colder than the outside air, which is actually impossible. Nothing will make a woman jump out of sleep faster than a pair of cold hands snuggling up next to her at night.

I’ve asked several doctors about it over the years, and I’ve never really been satisfied with the answers I’ve received. The first diagnosis was nearly 20 years ago, when I was told it could be Raynaud’s Syndrome. The problem is, after reading up on Raynaud’s – it just doesn’t seem to fit my symptoms. I’ve been told my veins may be deeper below the surface than normal, thus less warming blood reaches the surface. Not sure about that explanation either. One doctor wanted to put me on a low dose of medication to lower my blood pressure, which he felt would “open things up” and allow the blood to flow easier. Even though I already have low blood pressure, I tried the blood pressure medicine…. and it still didn’t work.

When I tell people about my cold hands, the first thing most people tell me is to wear gloves. I’ve found that wearing gloves doesn’t always work… and gloves don’t help when you’re trying to type on your computer.

So how do I deal with these cold hands?

Sometimes I just have to go with a temporary fix. Some of those include:
Taking a warm shower
Running my hands under warm water
Getting in bed until I warm up
Drinking a hot beverage such as hot chocolate or coffee

These temporary fixes are usually good enough when my cold hands are bothering me. But for a longer-lasting solution, I’ve found that keeping my “core” warm goes a long way to keeping my hands warm. Keeping my upper body as warm as possible tends to keep my hands warmer as well. I usually achieve this by wearing multiple shirts or even a jacket while indoors. When I’m almost too warm overall, my hands tend to stay warm.

Try to get your overall body warmed up and see if that keeps your hands warm as well.