banerjek

Last year, I started having problems with parts of my fingers turning white and going totally numb. I went to a doc who said it was Raynaud's phenomenon and that I needed to keep my hands and arms more warmly.

I've gone from wearing thin gloves in below freezing weather to lobster mitts with hand warmers and generally do a good job of keeping extremities warm. However, the Raynaud's has gotten significantly worse over the past few months and I'm having problems even when my hands are quite warm.

My question for those of you that have Raynaud's phenomenon out there is have you tried aerobars, and does it help? I'm wondering if gripping the handlebars is aggravating my symptoms and if resting on my forearms would help?

Cateye

Skin discoloration occurs because an abnormal spasm of the blood vessels causes a diminished blood supply to the local tissues in the hands. My guess would be that gripping the bars too hard will cut the flow of blood down as well as placing your forearms in areo bars. If you rested too much weight on your forearms it could decrease the circulation to your hands.

justin70

Do you only get the "Cold hands" when you're riding a bike?

umd

no

HAMMER MAN

I would ask your Dr. ,up to you though about taking blood pressure meds.
many different kinds are out there that open up the vessels and stop the spasms. If I remember reading correctly a calcium channel blocker can work.

banerjek

No, but it would be fair to say that the vast majority of the problems are associated with bike rides. The rest of the occurrences are also associated with activities in the cold where I am gripping something such as a ski pole or dog leash. One thing I would say is that keeping my forearms and hands warm as recommended significantly reduces problems. However, since I never experienced this problem at all until last Sept, I'd love to get rid of it if I can.

umd

Reynauds is a circulation problem, and is primarily triggered by coldness, however other constrictions to the blood vessels such as gripping something tightly could probably make it worse or more likely to occur. However, the underlying causes depends on whether or not you have primary or secondary. Primary is for the most part hereditary and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it except to keep your hands and/or feet warm. Secondary is caused as a side-effect of other conditions. I don't remember what they are because mine is primary, and its easy enough to look up on google so I won't bother to do it here. If yours just started, then yours is likely secondary. Rather than fighting the symptoms, you are probably best off looking hard at the potential underlying causes and determining if any of them apply to you. When you correct the underlying cause, it will probably go away.

Most of my dad's side of the family has it. I didn't know what it was until one day I showed my dad that some of my fingers were white and he told me what it was. It sucks but I'm used to it. Its fun to freak people out with the white (and sometimes blue) fingers, and its funny when it doesn't happen evenly (only some of the fingers). It doesn't usually hurt until they start to warm back up and then the tingling stings like a... Anyway, I'll just wear full finger gloves longer into the year than most people, and that mostly takes care of it.

DScott

For many people with Raynaud's, their symptoms are triggered by exposure to cold. However, that's the effect, not the cause. Ineffective regulation of the blood flow to the periphery is the problem, and it's central nervous system problem, IMO.

Biofeedack can help, and doesn't have the side effects of medication treatments. Here's a reasonably good article about it- https://www.byregion.net/articles-hea...old_Hands.html

(Ignore the hokie stuff.)

Good luck!

edit: posted the same time as umd. I'd add that there's not much work that I've seen done using biofeedback during vigorous exercise. Should still be useful...