 Poster: A snowHead
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Over the past two days my hands felt frozen and painfull for the first hour, and I couldn't hold the pole in my right hand. As both hands had gone numb, but the right was significantly worse than the left. Unfortunately, I suffer from cold hands and have to wear gloves most of the time back home in the UK with the exception of the summer months. So was aware of this problem and brought some silk under gloves to help, but my hands still got painfully cold for the first hour even though the rest of me was warm (even hot) and didn't need to wear a hat even at -20C. As for some reason my hands get very cold while the rest of my body remains warm, but the heat generated by the rest of my body doesn't travel to my hands.
Does anone else get really cold hands?
And if so how do you go about keeping your hands warm?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes. Have experimented with everything including electrically heated gloves, silk inner gloves.
Best solution for me: mittens with chemical hand warmers. Hand warmers last most/all day. Can be obtained from Snow and Rock/Blacks/internet. They cost about £1.50/pair (or did last season). Some can be `reheated` in a microwave. I don`t find them so effective (though no doubt much greener). Go for the disposable ones.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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davidb, You're lucky to be skiing! I'm jealous.
beetle, has probably the best advice. Its possible to get medication that opens up the blood vessels in the hands and feet and keeps them a bit warmer, doctors usually use a blood pressure tablet called Nifedipine in a low dose (Cold hands can be a side effect of other medications - notably beta blockers, also used for heart problems but less for BP these days). The drawback is that Nifedipine non specifically opens up all peripheral blood vessels so you can get facial flushing and a headache with even a small amount of alcohol, slightly swollen feet. I haven't experience of use of Nifedipine in very cold conditions so maybe for now stick with hand warmers, but think about Nifedipine for cold hands away from the mountain, just as a trial.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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davidb, you seem to be having a lousy time in Utah.
Here in Yorkshire my legs are fine and my hands are toasty. As a fellow snowHead I feel obligated to offer a season long "life" swap; just till you start to feel better. PM me withyour flight details and I'll pick you up at the airport 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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davidb, if your flight gets delayed you can use mitts rather than gloves, together with inner gloves and the hand warmer things.
Mitts are loads warmer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Your first step in keeping warm should be to wear a hat. Old mountain maxim, cold hands - put on a hat
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davidb, Yes - you must wear a hat. Also the hand warmers as a good short term solution - you must be able to buy them in Utah (I assume they actually have ski shops!) In addition you should look at the quality of your gloves - I use Hestra half mit/half glove which are the warmest I've ever had - now on mmy third pair. Also use gore-tex. Good gloves cost an arm and a leg, but are worth it. Mitts are much warmer than gloves. I find fleece inner gloves warmer (and cheaper) and silk. 
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davidb, I second mittens over gloves in cold weather. I wear the silk gloves with mittens and chemical handwarmers in really cold weather. In Canada I have also worn toewarmers (the equivalent to handwarmers) in my boots.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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davidb, David, i carry a .5l flask with oriental tea in it, i add honey and ginger to the mix to help circulation, keeps the missus on the hill that extra hour!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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davidb, cold hands relate to a stressed body, it is one reaction the body has when it is in a stressful situation. This is known as fight or flight where the person is prepared to either fight or run. The reason the body restricts blood flow to the extremities is to have more for the the vital organs when the body is in fight or flight mode. You might not think you are stressed, or maybe you do, but cold extremities is one indication of a stressed body. People are often stuck in fight or flight constantly, which is not a healthy situation and this is what we call stress. There is a great book out called 'why Zebras don't get ulcers' that talks more about this. I had cold hands but this problem has been much improved after seeing a specialist neurologically based chiropractor using adjustments and biofeedback technology.
Have a look at this chart and see where you fit, as you may have other symtoms other than cold hands that indicate your nervous system is out of balance.
http://www.lifechiropractic.ie/biochart.html
Better gloves is a good answer but your body may still be stressed.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Mon 4-12-06 16:31; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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marc gledhill, I am having a terrible time over in Utah, skiing at the weekends and the odd day in the week after a storm, but I'll soldier on. 
My legs were OK over the weekend, as I took the advice of drinking plenty of water. The difference was amazing from being having no strength in the legs previously to being OK. I certainly learned a lesson there.
I was wearing a pair of decent gloves (level) along with a pair of silk glove liners. I've got a pair of mittens back so I'll try them. I might have wear the liners, gloves and mittens. I'll look into hand warmers, but would prefer rechargeable ones due to cost and environmental issues.
As with not wearing a hat, I get very hot (almost to the point were I over heat) apart from the hands which are always cold. I'll wear one the next time I go up into the mountains.
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Try wearing sweat bands on your wrist, honest! My missus tried it and it does work!
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You know it makes sense.
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kitenski, has a point. Keeping your wrists warm means your hands keep warm too. So make sure your coat covers your wrist or wear sweat bands. Sharon suffers from cold hands too and we've invested in silk gloves and long thermals that go all the way to the wrist and this works well when we were in whislter.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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My wife has just bought me some silk inner gloves. I don't usually suffer from cold hands but I've noticed recently that the middle finger of my left hand gets very cold which I put down to sliing it open with a knife and nicking the digital nerve earlier this year. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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davidb, It really sounds as if you have a major circulation problem with your hands. I should see a doctor (if you can afford it out there). Seriously, I'm always cold, and hands and feet much worse than the rest of me, but that's partly due to frostnip when I was a teenager - the capilliaries never really recover. However, the rest of me is not hot. 
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