Top half of my hand turned white today - should I be worried?
Ran 13.1 at a pretty good clip (for me) today. Fingers on left hand started tinlging and felt quite cold by the end of the run... much more so than my right hand. When I took a shower after the run, I noticed that my fingers were completely white... which lasted a few minutes until the blood started flowing again to them. Not painful at all, but a tad disconcerting. Has happened a few times on my longer runs. I've been telling myself its just a function of it being a bit cold and rainy out, being a tad under-dressed and my body shunting blood to my legs and core... but am starting to wonder if it could be an actual problem of some kind.
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Art - One stupid question: were you wearing gloves during the run? I've found that my hands/fingers get colder much faster than the rest of me on a cold day, even a cool day. I generally wear a light pair even when it gets down to only 50*F, and then either layer 2 pairs of gloves or go with my ski gloves when it gets really cold. If you were wearing gloves, I think you are right to consider a visit to a MD.
Agree with Jim. My wife has it and her hand will go completely white if she doesn't dress for the conditions. I had to give her my gloves for our half marathon last week since it was cooler than we planned on and her hand was going white. She has it bad enough that her hands will go white with gloves on in the winter. She takes meds for it which helps.
@MS: maybe it has something to do with training in the cold rain all the time like you and I do, Pacific NW style? (Kidding... sort of)
@BT: was not wearing gloves... will try that and see if it delays and or prevents it...
@Jim: I'll check out the Renaud's thing
@Dave: Has she always had it or did it develop over time? I ask because it has only started happenning over the last few weeks for me...
http://www.raynauds.org/raynauds/frequently_asked_questions.cfm#FAQ13
Sounds like it is a benign, manageable thing in the vast majority of cases (triggered by cold or stress... think running 13.1 miles at 95% effort in 45 degres and rain counts?
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=3148235;search_string=raynaud;#3148235
art:
as always, wouldn't hurt to run it by your doc, since your doc knows your medical history, etc. and can make a more informed decision.
it definitley sounds like vasoconstriction from the cold, which is normal. i don't like to associate names to normal physiological events, since it freaks people out, especially with all the info out there on the internet and even worse: on Slowtwitch!!!
in terms of your athletic routine, here are some things to try and if they help, then great.
-try to keep the temp of your hands controlled when possible, with gloves, etc. however, as long as you don't have pain, nor blue color, then this is more just for piece of mind, in terms of your hand;
-when riding your bike, try not to put so much pressure on your hands, since pressure on the nerves of the hand can affect lots of things;
when i am exposed to cold in training, i have to thaw myself out before i take a warm shower. otherwise, my immune cells get upset and release histamine and i get all red and itchy, especially in hands and feet. this is a normal variant and i just have to adapt my routine to avoid it. no biggy.
good luck,'
gh
cool. i like the windmill method to over-ride the vasoconstriction.
art: the avoiding of pressure on the hands advice when cycling is in case there is a cummulative nerve insult that lingers enough to cause this effect in the left hand, days later, when you run. on the bike you likely wear gloves when it is cold, so you don't get the white hand, since your hands stay warm enough. nerve effects can last months. i'm not saying this is the cause, but it couldn't hurt and an easy preventive measure to try. similarly, if you type alot at work, a carpal tunnel type inflammation could result in a similar nerve insult.
stay warm!
gh