Faster Than Your Couch!
Anyone here experience with this?
I have a tendency towards getting white, or deep purple/blue fingers or heels, seldom toes, on occasion. It does not always happen when I'm exposed to cold, only sometimes (actually it's pretty rare, normally I don't have much trouble with cold hands or feet).
Yesterday, after a trail run where I did not even get cold fingers, on the drive home, the top two segments of my middle finger turned absolutely white. The finger went totally numb, but hurt slightly when touched. There was no way I could get the blood back flowing there again. I tried heating up the finger on the heated seat, or warming it up with my lips, tucking my hand into the waist of my tights, massaging - no effect.
It took about half an hour before blood came back into those segments again, then the condition resolved itself quickly. But the finger is still a bit tender today.
Is that Raynaud's, or something else? How do I resolve this more quickly, any tips and tricks?
Run for fun.
Refurbished Hip
Hi Couch!
I have pretty bad Raynaud's. Mine has been particularly horrible this winter. What you describe (fingers being fine on your run, then bad in the car home) is fairly typical for me. Right now I've been running around my neighborhood, coming home, taking a hot shower, and then after my hot shower my fingers will go totally numb and white. It's very frustrating. It's gotten to the point where my fingers will go numb even just drinking a glass of cold water. It's become a daily occurrence that I've had to learn to live with. And while things get better in the summer, unfortunately it doesn't go away completely. Even A/C can set me off.
The best way for me to restore the feeling and blood flow in my fingers is to massage them under warm water. If I'm in the car when it happens, holding them in front of the vents blowing hot air until they hurt is pretty much the only way I've gotten them to warm up. Sometimes I can get them to warm up from skin on skin contact, but that usually takes a lot of effort. Your best bet is prevention. I always wear gloves/mittens or some sort of combination. Keeping your core warm helps as well. On *really* cold days, I will use the little chemical heating packs in my mittens.
Also, Raynaud's Disease can be a sign for an autoimmune disease...might be something to bring up with your doctor at your next check up. I had to get all sorts of tests done.
Running is dumb.
Le professeur de trail
I've not officially been diagnosed with RD but I have a bad problem with my hands as well. I sometimes wear two pair of gloves and even that doesn't help. I have considerd (but not done yet) using those warming packets that you break and can put in your clothing or sleeping bag to keep you warm. Maybe next winter. I have also considered gettinga pair of mittens (wool) instead of using gloves. Again, maybe next winter.
I also get some white setions of my fingers with intermittent pain. When out for a run, I will ball my fingers upwithin my glove and am able to somewhat warm them. Otherwise I would agree that consulting with a doctor might be warranted.
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Three of four years ago, the last time we had a fairly cold winter, I had a lot of problems with my hands turning blue or purple. I often wore a medium blue fleece at work and when outside my hands would be the color of the fleece. I had very little pain. Some of the ER docs that I showed it to thought it may be Raynaud's. Other than wearing gloves when I could there wasn't much I could do. The interesting thing is that i had no problems with it this year. When I told my family Dr about it he wanted me to wait until another winter to see how it was. Since I'm not having the problem as much I haven't followed up with it. If it's a regular occurrence I'd say something to your Dr, they might be more aggressive then mine was.
I'm a sufferer - undiagnosed, but my mother has been diagnosed and we share symptoms. My hands are much worse than my feet - fingertips are regularly white/blue, and I occasionally get chilblains (red/purple swollen blisters) on my fingers (below my fingernail) as well. I run with mittens (not gloves) when it's even mildly cold (even in shorts weather) and use hand warmers whenever it's below 40 or so. Otherwise, I'm not sure what one can really do.
My DW nags me to talk to my doctor about circulation issues, taking vasodilators, etc., but I've never pursued this.
Snowdenrun
I am so glad this topic came up! I have been suffering this too lately. It seemed to start out of nowhere about 2 months ago and has been getting progressively worse. Maybe it's Raynaud's, maybe it's not. My onset seems random with how cold it is, my activity and when I actually start experiencing numbness. I have been calling it "dead fingers".
I wonder if this is something runners are more apt to experience?
Warming measures are the first line of treatment. Adequate gloves/mittens and socks/shoes are important, plus keeping one's core warm may allow more bloodflow to the extremities. If warming measures fail then there are medications that show moderate clinical success. Nifedipine is the most commonly used drug to treat Raynaud's.
http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/raynauds_phenomenon/
http://www.raynauds.org.uk/raynauds/treatments
I'm Holden McGruyen. Would you like to join me?
Uh oh... now what?
Everyone pretty much covered the basics.
Someone once commented, "It must be above 50º, John doesn't have gloves on."
My defeat at the second Le Grizz (finished, but much slower than the previous year)
was mostly because of cold feet at the start. I don't remember all the things that
went wrong, but I felt like I was running on boards--terrible clumsy. I put on an extra
shirt to keep warm at a time when I should have been comfortably warm (several
miles in).
The mittens thing helps.
I use the mentioned chem pack warmers on some cold camp morning, just put
them in the shoes to warm my feet (toes mostly).
Mine is diagnosed--referred to as mild, but persistent. It is worth (if med costs
are doable) seeing a doctor. I was able to get to a doctor that was interested
and although I don't have anything that needs treating, she offered clothing
advice that prevents it.
The most painful part has always been the hot/warm water soaks to bring my
fingers back to life. The North Dakota winter had a few bothersome mornings.
rgot
This is going to sound goofy, probably, but I've found a way to dramatically reduce the incidence of Reynaud's syndrome/reaction symptoms (they are a bit different; I am a reaction type) that seem to come on after I am done running.
After I am done running at certain times of the year, I put on a hat. Like a beanie/stocking cap hat. And a down jacket. If I do this, I don't have as bad of a Reynaud's reaction.
It tends to be worse for me in fall and spring. I think in the winter I bundle up so much that I don't get the vasoconstriction in my extremities due to the blood rushing to warm my core (that is, my core is plenty warm, so the vasoconstriction button doesn't get pushed). Not so in the shoulder seasons.