Cold Hands Won't Kill You!

Posting Date: 08/24/2001

Larry: My hands are usually cold most of the time, well, in colder weather. In the summertime, it?s not so bad.

Dr. Dean: Do they change color at all?

Larry: No.

Dr. Dean: Just cold hands. This is something that happens in women a lot. It can relate to iron deficiency in women, but most of the time it has to do with constriction of blood vessels.

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There is something called Raynaud?s Disease, and Raynaud?s Syndrome. Both are more common in women, but they can happen in men. Raynaud?s happens sometimes in association with other diseases, especially with the trigger of a little cold, the blood vessels clamp down and the fingers can even get white and your hands get cold.

I suspect there is something more general happening with your hands. We are all different in this; some of us have more reactive blood vessels. The two things I notice that can make it worse, and tell me if you have either of these habits, are drinking a lot of coffee or smoking cigarettes.

Larry: I do both.

Dr. Dean: We?ve got a "two-fer"! Both are powerful vasoconstrictors. If I drink a lot of coffee, it will constrict my blood vessels and I get cold hands. And I drank too much coffee today and my hands are cold right now and it?s warm in the studio.

The cold hands syndrome due to cigarette smoking is not very common, but it does happen. It is called Berger?s disease and is caused by blood vessels that become so constricted that someone suffering from this may be in danger of developing gangrene in the hands and feet.

If you want to try and keep at least one habit, you might try decaffeinating yourself for a few weeks and see if it gets better or forgetting about it. In other words, cold hands won?t kill you and you probably love your habits more than you hate the cold hands.