Reduce Raynaud’s Disease Symptoms with Cold Exposure
For many years I have experienced mild symptoms of raynaud’s disease in my hands. It’s basically reduced blood flow (typically to hands or feet) that can cause numbness or tingling and a slight change of the color in the problematic area.
For me, this means that when I’m cold, the tips of my fingers get a little numb and turn more white than the rest of my hand. It’s a little bit uncomfortable but goes away relatively quickly.
While practicing full body cold exposure with my morning showers every day, I also learned that I can more intensely improve circulation to specific body parts, such as the hands.
I will confess, initially it is very unpleasant but like the cold shower, it felt amazing once it was done and my symptoms of raynaud’s disease have decreased dramatically.*
Here’s how you do it:
Get two large bowls that you can easily rest your hands in. I like to have my finger tips facing upward.
Fill each bowl about 2/3 with cold water and then add ice cubes so that the bowl is almost full but there’s still enough room for you to completely submerge your hands up to the wrist without water spilling out of the bowl.
Set a timer for 2 minutes and place one hand in each bowl of ice water. This will be very intense (and not in a pleasant way).
Close your eyes and take slow deep breaths in and out.
When the timer goes off, dry your hands on a towel and then shake your hands toward the ground to allow the blood to move more quickly to your extremities. This feels really good. Your hands may feel warm and slightly tingly.
Please note: Always consult with your health care provider before experimenting with any cold exposure techniques. Severe cases of raynaud’s are more similar to frost bite and could be made worse with cold exposure. Also, cold exposure may affect individuals differently.
If this feels too extreme for you, maybe you could start experimenting with some minimal cold exposure of hands and feet and the end of your hot shower. Click here if you’d like more information on this process.
*I’ve only done this a total of 5 times and plan to continue to experiment to see if I can fully eliminate my symptoms. My guess is that I will need to be more regular with my practice. I’ll keep you posted!
