 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
I know this has been posted before but not for a while.
Before I go any further, leaving him at home is not an option...
The problem is my boyfriend suffers from painfully cold hand when skiing and it makes him really miserable, he has tried almost all of the options suggested by people on this site, such as:
silk gloves
new expensive hestra mittens
silk gloves and 'teabag' handwarmers with new gloves
silk gloves, fleece gloves and mittens
Changing gloves during the day
I don't know what he does to the hand warmers but they just don't stay warm when he uses them, we've swapped hand warmers after lunch (coffee no. 2)
Giving up smoking is apparently not an option
has anyone tried the heated gloves, are they any good and can they recommend any, I think the only other suggestion he hasn't tried is chilli
Any advice greatly appreciated
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nik, Are his feet cold as well? Does he wear a hat?
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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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Does he have Raynaud's syndrome?
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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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Nik,
Ski at Easter?
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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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Maybe trade him in for a more robust model?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Dr E will see you now.
Raynaud's is a possibility. Does he suffer from cold hands at other times, and how are his feet? Raynaud's typically causes colour changes in the hands (red-white-blue).
My general advice for raynauds would be -
Gloves as necessary, fleece wristbands also sometimes help, if the wrists are warm, warm hands often follow. You can get battery heated gloves, and they can be effective. Put warm gloves on warm hands and make sure the air is trapped.
Smoking. Stop. (sorry, but it's true).
Drugs - nifedipine is useful, or diltiazem (need to see a quack for these, and they're not without their problems).
The Scleroderma and Raynaud's (or Raynaud's and scleroderma) Society has useful info - google it.
Alcohol sometimes helps, as it is quite a potent peripheral vasodilator. This is not to say he should get piddled before breakfast. Or that skiing after alcohol is a good idea.
Come back in a week if it's not better. Next, please.
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doctor_eeyore, what about niacin?
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my Raynaud's almost disparooed when I gave up smoking 
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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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No evidence I could find of niacin being of benefit.
Then again, current evidence isn't strong for any of the mainstream pharmacological interventions.
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The boyf sounds like a bit of a loser.
Time to trade up to a better model.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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sounds like give up smoking or give up skiing. The suggestion to ski later in the season is a good one, though cold weather can't be ruled out at any time. And obviously avoid long cold chairlifts. Cross country skiing keeps you warm.... and he might look good in Lycra! I have a friend, skinny, keen cyclist, non smoker. He suffered very badly from Reynaud's, though it didn't always bother him by any means. It just struck now and again and is, indeed, very painful and miserable. He was diagnosed out of the blue, earlier this year, with severe coronorary artery disease and had a bypass. He is now convalescing, not skiing for a while, but is interested to find out whether his Reynaud's might have disappeared...
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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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thanks for the suggestions, in reply
He NEVER gets cold feet
Usually wears a hat
Drinking - very good at has enough at night to not need a top up before breakfast
Is a reasonably robust model - is a builder so used to being out in the cold
Can't get rid of him - easiest way to carry my skis
Drugs - I'm sure the doc will tell him to give up smoking first
He may look good in lycra...
He is prepared to pay for heated gloves instead of quit smoking and have another holiday and still save money.
I think I'll work on the quit smoking, if that doesn't work can anyone recommend any heated gloves
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Tell him to type on a keyboard and do Snowheads for 10 minutes after 10 minutes exercise  B.t.w. some of us folks always have cold extremities - I'm one of them. I can't hold my hands above my shoulders for long either without them tingling - things like painting ceilings, and doing elaborate things with my hair are quite awkward.
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You know it makes sense.
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I always get cold hands when 'working' on a computer, infact I always have cold hands luckily they don't get painful
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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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Nik, I bought a pair of Therm-ic heated gloves last year, as I also suffer cold hands and feet - and yes I do wear all the right gear  They are expensive, but have made skiing a lot more enjoyable. I bought mine from here: http://www.aquastuff.net/ and I replaced the Supermax batteries with the Liion version as the Supermax are heavier and a pain to charge.
Product Desc: http://www.therm-ic.com/index.php?id=63&L=1
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Poster: A snowHead
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nuttyprofessor thanks, was wondering if anyone found them good, will have a look
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sounds just like Raynauds. I have it and it sucks. Don't be fooled by creams. Do not work. Lots of medication is actually for blood pressure. Not great if you have low blood pressure and has other implications. Shrunken Austrian wool gloves under ski mitts worked but very bulky and impractical. Hand warmers OK but not for thumbs which get very cold on their own. Heated gloves the way to go, but the thumbs must be included. Good luck
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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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margot, welcome to snowHeads!
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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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After reading this I'm so grateful I have hands like hot shovels . . . rarely need more than cycling gloves in Jan (but always carry a thicker spare pair)
One thing no-one's mentioned, do not wear tight gloves, there needs to be a small e air gap around the hand otherwise if the gloves become wet from sweat or repeated they'll form a direct thermal conduit and your hands will freeze very quickly indeed.
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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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Masque, I guess directly related to that is to make sure the gloves breathe enough to left sweat out and are waterproof enough not to let melted snow in. Also to watch where gloves are set down when you stop I find that once you get snow inside the glove its hellish difficult to get it out again. I am not embarassed (though maybe I should be) to say that I use wrist lanyards on mine to avoid dropping them for this very reason.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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This might be a silly question, Is it that your boyfriend takes his gloves off to smoke and therefore they get cold, or is it that they're always cold?
I'm lucky in that I have warm hands most of the time when boarding, however I don't take my gloves off when smoking. I like really thin (low profile) gloves, I hate the feeling of having massive sausage fingers and not feeling what I'm actually touching (if that makes sense?). With my thinner gloves I don't have to remove them to have a sneaky ski lift smoke.
I'm currently using a pair of Dakine gloves, upon looking around on the t'internet I can't even find a pair like them, they are literally glove only, with nothing at the wrist. I previously had a pair of grenade gloves, which had a little more padding in.
I know this might sound counter-intuitive, but just adding my 2p worth.
good luck
Mike.
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Le Vieux Campeur in Albertville (and probably other branches) have Zanier heated mittens and gloves. 299 euros.  Went shopping for warm gloves with a cold-handed friend today - but apart from being pricey they were also a bit stiff and uncomfortable. he bought some super warm down mitts, instead (a mere 89 euros.....) and will use tea bag style handwarmers.
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I'm the same as the original poster, hands and feet are always cold, not just when ski-ing and tried all of the same stuff to try and keep my hands warm.
For those of you who suggest wearing extra layers, or keeping the insides dry or wearing mittens or wearing inner liners or using teabag heaters please don't as none of them seem to work for me. My finger or thumb tips always end up like ice and I have to stop and go somewhere warm to recuperate 
Anyone else used the heated finger gloves??
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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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karenhenry, I think you'd find the heated finger gloves good - my friend was just not ready to spend quite that much, without trying better gloves (I had told him his current ones were not much cop...) but in the end I think he might go down that route. I'm also trying to persuade him to pay for heatronic boot warmers. He's unwilling to spend that much money on himself, but it's just miserable skiing with icy extremities. I didn't look too hard at them, but they seemed to use batteries, so you'd need to have battery chargers and be well organised about charging up every evening. I have heated boots, and they don't last all day on top heat setting - but they're great. I love them!
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| pam w wrote: |
| karenhenry, I think you'd find the heated finger gloves good - my friend was just not ready to spend quite that much, without trying better gloves (I had told him his current ones were not much cop...) but in the end I think he might go down that route. I'm also trying to persuade him to pay for heatronic boot warmers. He's unwilling to spend that much money on himself, but it's just miserable skiing with icy extremities. I didn't look too hard at them, but they seemed to use batteries, so you'd need to have battery chargers and be well organised about charging up every evening. I have heated boots, and they don't last all day on top heat setting - but they're great. I love them! |
Thanks. I've just bought some disposable toe warmers for my feet and am going to give them a try this year. On the gloves front I'm really unsure which ones to get but I guess I'll just have to take the plunge since no one here seems to be using them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I couldn't face another season of cold hand misery, it's been bad enough keeping them warm here in the uk in the last few weeks, so I've bought a pair of exo2 snowstorm heated gloves. Expensive, but hopefully the last pair I'll ever need.
I'll give you all an update when I've tried them on the slopes.
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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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Does anyone else want Dr E as their quack? Mine says drinking is bad (it is against his religeon though...).
It might sound silly but I found my Hestra mitten things with woolly normal gloves inside didn't work, but I was not tucking them up the sleeves of my jacket.
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wintergreen?
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You know it makes sense.
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Nik, if your boyfriend is going out and getting s**t-faced at night, he's probably dehydrated by the morning. Low circulating blood volume causes blood vessels in the extremities to shut-down... tell him to neck a couple if pints of water before bed
F
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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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Nik, mittens? just sorted out (as far as we can tell after about 10 days of quite cold skiing) my wife's new fangled Raynaud's symptoms...
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Poster: A snowHead
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I`ve tried the heated glove route (Zaniers). Didn`t work for me. Also after a couple of weeks the batteries wouldn`t accept a full charge.
Forget standard gloves. I`ve tried an awful lot - most expensive were about £150. Even with handwarmers and/or silk inners my fingers still froze.
Like Pam W I think what does work is a good mountaineering mitten (inner and outer mitten), together with hand warmers. Handwarmers are much more effective in a mitten. I use Outdoor Research Alti mitts: see http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/m_s_alti_mitts.html. Can be a bit bulky but able to grasp a ski pole and do up zips.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Try Marmot Expedition Mitts which are super warm. could use liner gloves as additional layer plus throw away handwarmer sachets if still needed....should be much cheaper than electric gloves and less chance of breakage, low battery, etc.
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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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I'm not one of these anti smoking folk (not talking about posters here BTW) however, think of his cold hands as a warning. THis is the first hint of vascular problems and should be the first early sign that he should give up smoking.
A for the cold hands.... I undestand if you get your core temp up IE wear another thin fleece, then your hands will get more blood to them and keep them warm.
Disclaimer, if youve ever seen a reference to me being a doctor.... I am, but not a medical doctor.. although my biology speciality is medical. Therefore, see your GP.
Cheers
Bob
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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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I have just been diagnosed with scleroderma and Raynauds pretty rare for a man to get. So haven't been able to ski this year. As I suffer from the cold I have had to look at the clothing I wear. I have found these gloves to be excellent www.chocolatefishmerino.co.uk/accessories/mpgloves.html and can be used in combination with mitts. They also do a great range in Marino gear and is all made in New Zealand, I don't work for them, but when you find a product that works I think it is good to let people know. I have also given these to two friends who suffer from Raynauds and they swear by them.
Cheers
Peter 
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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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Just as background, I suffer from cold fingertips when ski-ing, especially my thumbs, as I have poor circulation. I also get cold feet, but that's another story! I've tried out most things, from adding more layers, to using mittens etc without any luck. So;
I bought a pair of exo2 snowstorm heated gloves recently and finally got to use them last week in Alp D. NOT the coldest week to test heated gloves admittedly, however I got to try them out on a couple of the coldest days, with the following results.
Pro's : Each finger is individually heated so I found that my fingertips didn't get that awful numb feeling they usually get in cold weather. My fingers didn't feel warm either, they just didn't get overly cold as the heat is very gentle. The gloves were well made and seemed to be made of strong material which hopefully means they should be long lasting. Charging them was straightforward although a full charge does seem to take some time (overnight)
Con's. The battery pack is quite bulky and as it fits on the side of the glove it makes getting in and out of pole straps awkward. The inner lining does not dry out quickly so they remained quite damp through the day.
On a limited test I could not wholeheartedly recommend these gloves given their price. Please feel free to ask if you want any further information.
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