My sensitivity to cold goes deeper than being a thin-blooded Californian. What are the causes and probable diagnoses?
A Season of Discomfort
It’s that time again. As my digital device sounds an alert, a rare hail pounds the windows like handfuls of marbles thrown against the shutters. The unseasonable torrential rain weather is as cold as the frequent chill of my physical extremities. It’s an atypical heightened chill, approaching the feel of a freezer burn when touching anything inside the refrigerator.
Even on the West Coast, Winter and Spring weather exacerbates my condition. Throughout the year, my hands are cooler than those of others but tolerable. When shaking hands, friends react with the idiom, “Cold hands, warm heart.” It’s the time of year when I wear gloves indoors. The inability to touch anything cold challenges cooking skills. I reminisce on how this developed while sipping a warm cup of tea.
A History of Cold
The genesis for my sensitivity goes back to when I was a 14-year-old teenager. I loved to swim laps in the apartment’s small pool which was heated only during the Summer. In a contest, an opponent and were outdoing each other by 50 laps each. When I reached 237 laps, he jumped in to interfere, causing a leg cramp.
On one warm Spring day, I decided to try and swim in the unheated water. It felt cold to my foot but I reasoned that my body would adapt with complete submersion. So I dived in and immediately felt a chill unlike anything ever experienced. Even my eyeballs were cold. While kicking my feet underwater, I reached the other end of the small pool to towel off and run inside. My aching body shivered in front of the wall heater with a towel over my head for over an hour while waiting for my blue fingers to regain color.
Decades ago, a medical condition came to light with pallor and cyanotic hands requiring submersion in warm water to regain normal color. While dragging my hands across a chilly large metal drafting table in the winter evenings, my fingers also developed red lesions.
Before the internet gained its worldwide web graphical user interface, international doctors queried each other through text chats. One inquired whether the patient had sheep exposure. The attending physician felt comfortable diagnosing the autoimmune disorder called primary Raynaud’s phenomenon. Based on the lesions, he suspected it might advance to Sarcoidosis within ten years.
Interim treatment consisted of just about every vasodilator available, from vitamin E to nitroglycerin. They lowered blood pressure and introduced headaches and allergic reactions but didn’t warm hands. As the internet matured, computers replaced the drafting table, suspending the cyanosis that never manifested more serious conditions.
Subsequent physicians doubt that Raynaud’s phenomenon appeared to lose its characteristic red, white, and blue demarcation of extremities. Blood tests for an autoimmune disorder have been negative.
A Persistence to Endure
Low iron or vitamin D can contribute to cold hands and feet. Although I struggle to maintain adequate levels of this vitamin, the extreme cold sensitivity persists regardless. Diabetes and peripheral artery disease have been ruled out. Despite the lack of blood test confirmation, I must still deal with the symptoms of primary Raynaud’s phenomenon. Below are the author’s anecdotal suggestions for staying as warm as possible.
Tips for Cold Extremities
- Receive diagnosis from physician.
- Keep entire body warm, not just hands.
- Wear fur-lined gloves that extend beyond wrists outdoors.
- For typing, wear gloves with fingertips exposed.
- Insert HotHands hand warmers within gloves.
- Wear socks and shoes during cold weather.
- Consider use of small desktop heater for hands.
- While lying beneath covers, keep hands close to your torso.
To this day, my hands and feet relive that chill every Winter and Spring. So when I remove a glove to shake a hand and hear someone say, “Cold hands, warm heart” or “Your hands are cold,” I prevent a long explanation by responding, “Thank you.”
For portable heat to warm a room, your lower extremities, or your hands on a desktop, consider the 15-inch-tall DREO Space Heater. With a sleek design, it offers from 1000 to 1500 watts, temperature control, timer, 70°oscillation, tilt-protection, and remote control.
I have no desire to visit snowy locations. Besides bundling up in the cold, I still follow my first doctor’s prescription of remaining in a warm climate. Sure, at times it’s uncomfortable, even painful. If you endure the pain of cold extremities, it’s something that’s manageable by following practical suggestions and maintaining a good sense of humor.
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To support the writing of useful articles about rheumatology, ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online. You may sponsor specific articles or remit a small donation.
ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online to offset expense of the writing useful articles about rheumatology. Slide extra posters into DeuPair Frames without removing from the wall.
ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online. You may remit a small donation.
You can support the writing of useful articles about rheumatology by sponsoring specific articles or remitting a small donation.
