Raynaud’s Awareness Month – February 2022
Raynaud’s Awareness Month – February 2022
What is Raynaud’s Disease?
Raynauds is a condition in which the body overreacts to certain situations causing cold and numbness in the hands and feet.
What are the causes?
The causes of Raynaud’s are unknown, but exposure to extreme cold triggers it.
What are the symptoms?
- Cold fingers or toes
- Numbness
- Skin discolouration – the fingers and toes turn white or blue, upon exposure to Cold or Stress
- On heating, skin colour changes to red with throbbing pain
How can I manage any symptoms experienced when doing outdoor and winter sports:
10 Top tips on Keeping Warm when open water swimming, skiing, snowboarding, running or cycling (From SRUK Website).
1. Ensure your circulation is at its optimum by breathing and stretching before exercise.
2. Take your wet clothes off as soon as you get out of wet conditions and dry off quickly.
3. Take a thermos with a hot drink for after cold exercise, or stop for a hot drink if you feel cold, and some sugary food.
4. Have lots of layers of clothes to wear and have spares to put on when you are finished.
5. Try swimming gloves and booties.
6. Try a thermal swimming cap.
7. Use a dry suit under your wetsuit for double warmth but layers can slow you down.
8. Secure hand and feet re-usable or re-chargeable heat packs to the most vulnerable areas of your body such as hands and feet.
9. Have some hot packs ready to crack to put in your gloves and socks once in the warm.
Information taken from https://www.sruk.co.uk/…/managing…/raynauds-and-sport/
