Cold hands and feet if you have ACROCYANOSIS or Raynaud's

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http://my.webmd.com/content/article/3172.21108

Read down and it will give ideas of ways to keep them warm. Joanne Cold hands and feet

When your body needs to maintain an adequate core temperature in cool weather, it simply reduces blood flow to your hands and feet to keep heat loss to a minimum. For people who smoke, take certain medications, or have an iron deficiency, diabetes, or heart disease, chilled extremities can even be a problem in relatively mild temperatures.Simple self-care and prevention usually is enough to keep most people's hands and feet from turning icy. If you have Raynaud's syndrome (your fingers or toes turn blue and sting with pain upon exposure to cold) or acrocyanosis (your hands and feet are always cold and usually very wet with perspiration), self-care and prevention measures usually work, but you may need to consult your doctor.

Symptoms/Signs:

Cool or cold skin on hands and feet, sometimes accompanied by clamminess, perspiration, or mild numbness

With Raynaud's syndrome: fingers and toes suddenly turn pale upon exposure to cold, sometimes turning blue or red and often accompanied by stinging pain

With acrocyanosis: constant chill to hands and feet, even in mild temperatures, usually accompanied by profuse perspiration

With circulatory disease: occasionally chilled hands and feet, even in mild temperatures, sometimes accompanied by numbness

Consult Your Doctor If:

You lose feeling in any extremity.

Your (cool) hands or feet ache with use or when elevated.

Your hands or feet have poor- or non-healing sores.

Self-care measures fail to keep the hands or feet warm.

Home Care Ideas:

Use absorbent foot powders to keep feet dry.

Avoid over-the-counter cold remedies and diet pills.

Avoid putting hands or feet in cold water.

Use warm, not hot, water to warm chilled extremities slowly.

Eat a meal (preferably a hot one) before going outdoors in cool weather.

Eat iron-rich foods or talk to your doctor about taking iron supplements if you're anemic.

Wear gloves and moisture-wicking socks.

Swing your arms in large circles or your legs in half-circles to move blood to your extremities.

Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.

Avoid caffeine and alcohol.

Drink hot cider, broth, or decaffeinated tea to warm hands and feet quickly. Copyright 2000 The WorkCare Group, Inc. and Health Ink & Vitality Communications************************************************************************************************************

http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section16/chapter212/212e.htm

Acrocyanosis

Persistent, painless, symmetric cyanosis of the hands and, less commonly, the feet, caused by vasospasm of the small vessels of the skin.

The etiology is unknown but may be related to increased tone of the arterioles associated with dilation of capillaries and venules. The disorder usually occurs in women and is not associated with occlusive arterial disease.

The digits and hands or feet are persistently cold and bluish, sweat profusely, and may swell. Cyanosis is usually intensified by cold and lessened by warming. Trophic changes and ulceration do not occur, and pain is absent. Pulses are normal.

No treatment..just try to keep them warm. Joanne )