The old adage that cold hands often conceal a warm heart has been dispelled by scientists, so there’s no excuse for keeping those hands warm now the cold weather has arrived.

 

For the ten million sufferers of Raynauds, a recurrent spasm of the arteries supplying the fingers, toes or other extremities, which causes them to go bluish-white, cold and very painful and is often brought on by exposure to cold, its especially important to keep the hands warm. But what’s the best way?

 

The Rayanrds and Scleroderma Association makes the following suggestions which sufferers and non-sufferers can use, as when non-sufferers feel cold it all comes down to a lack of bloodflow.

 

Base layers – keep the core of your body warm, helping the blood flow to the rest of the body

 

Gloves – help to keep the fingers and hands warm, but it might be worth considering mitterns rather than gloves as they tend to be bulkier but allow the fingers to clench and unclench if they start to feel cold, which will increase the blood flow.

 

Socks – always useful to keep those toes toastie warm, keeping them dry is always important.

 

Handwarmers – These can easily slip inside a pair of mittens, and can last up to 8 hours

 

As is normal it can just be a matter of personal choice, with material, brand and friends recommendation all factors to be considered. I like a thin pair of gloves inside mittens so I have the option of taking the mittens off if I have to work on something whilst outside.

 

Always remember that we can prevent certain aspects of the cold by reducing our use of things which reduce bloodflow, unfortunately this means smoking, alcohol, and caffeine. Not always an easy thing to do, but maybe something worth looking at as a belated New Year’s Resolution?