I use rechargeable hand warmers and mittens when I'm outdoors. I'm too cheap to use the one time use type. In the house, when my hands get cold, I use either a heating pad or fingerless gloves. I keep my torso warm all winter, as well.

My mother had this and wore gloves in the house. I don't have Reynaud's but my hands do get cold so I use fingerless gloves when I'm on the computer or reading a book.

A brother and I are wondering if we have this condition. I've always had cold hands and feet. I've started sitting under an electric heated throw when I feel cold. It warms me up better than anything.

I am also one who wonders if I have this. In summer I can stand barefoot on 90 degree concrete and my feet will remain very cold to the touch. I once looked up pictures online and they seemed so extreme (blue fingers and toes) that I dismissed it and just deal with my "coldness."

A few years ago I started sewing rice bag heating pads, which are good for when I am around the house. Just small fabric cases filled with dry white rice. They go in the microwave to warm up. Then put on feet or hands. You could probably also just fill a sock with rice to do this as well. These are cheap, work great for me, and when they wear out, I sew a new one in less than an hour with whatever heavy fabric is on hand. It can smell a little funny at first, and then again after a while as it ages.

I have something called Cold Urticaria which is similar but not necessarily as dangerous to you. I also suffer most when it is chilly instead of really cold but maybe that is because I am not as likely to suit up properly. I get swelling and rash-large welts, that itch as they finally warm up. It varies from one season to the next sometimes being severe and other times not. Doctors tend to ignore it. I have had my hands swell to the point of my fingers looking like sausages. Not fun. Some think this disorder is a precursor to Raynauds. I feel for people with Raynauds.

Mine also flares up during moderate temp and also damp weather is not my friend. My hands and feet turn blue and white, I too have to sit in a hot bath to warm my body up. My fingers have got bigger over the years to because of this problem.

Patriciae, I have the urticaria at times -- only either when I've been doing a cardio workout in a chilly room (the hives break out as I cool down) or when I've been out walking or jogging briskly enough and long enough to get hot in chilly temps (not when it is this cold, I guess because I dress more warmly or never get that hot). I seem to need that big gradient between a higher body temp and the surrounding temp for it to occur.

I would sometimes have an episode in the freezer aisle of the grocery store in the middle of summer. Strange condition and so painful when the fingers start to warm up.

Judy, if you do a search here at the KT you'll find a number of Raynaud's discussions. I know, because I started several of them. Raynaud's is a big issue for me. It started in my feet decades ago, and some time later it included my hands.

Keeping my feet warm is relatively easy. Around seven months of the year I use disposable foot warmers--the kind that attach to the outside of your socks. I buy HotHands Toe Warmers 40 pairs at a time on Amazon. Walmart online has a decent price too. At night I pre-heat the foot of my mattress with a Sunbeam foot-warming pad. Great product!

Keeping my hands warm is a lot harder. I'm not outdoors in winter unless I have to be: getting the mail, walking to my car, feeding the birds, etc. Indoors, I wear a turtleneck under a heavy fleece pullover with pockets. Sometimes I buy a men's size S or M because men's styles tend to be heavier than women's. Pockets are important because they hold my hand warmers. I use HotHands Hand Warmers (disposable) and a rechargeable one.

I eat a lot of salads and do a lot of vegetable juicing, and handling the cold ingredients is painful. I have to stop often and run my fingers under warm (not hot) water. I learned the hard way that exposing my very cold fingers to too much heat can make things worse. No matter what I do, I end up with rather awful sores on my hands every winter. For obvious reasons, our fingers have a lot of nerve endings.

I'm not familiar with infrared gloves, but as I said, I stay indoors most of the time. I just ordered new gloves and mittens from Sierra Trading Post. They have a lot of cold-weather gear on clearance.

I think more people have Cold Urticaria than know. Doctors don't really take it seriously or realize what it is. I got lucky while checking out my inner ear problems (I have Menieres) and his wife had it, a severe case. I believe all this stuff is immune system glitches, I have other issues that are immune system things. Taken singly not a big deal but all together? At least most people can take antihistamines for the itch but the swelling? Still it is not as bad as Raynauds One of my sister's MIL died after many years of losing digits and she lived in Florida! Her problem got out of control.

To keep your fingers and toes warm, you must keep your head and torso warm. The body is very sensitive about keeping the brain and heart warm. If it senses a temperature reduction in either one, it will reduce blood flow to the extremities to preserve heat for these critical parts. In winter, wear full coverage, insulated head gear with ear flaps and neck coverage.

I have Raynauds and this year it's mostly in my feet. It's weird because in previous years, I'd have kinda itchy sores on my fingers but this year nothing. My toes are white most of the time and when I get in my warm bubble bath they turn black and then finally pink. My kids inherited this from me.

It is very important to keep your entire body warm and therefore your circulating blood supply. A simple pair of gloves outdoors does very little good on their own. As you probably know, smoking is the worst thing possible for this. I have a family member who goes out in the cold with no coat and has a cigarette and then complains about her fingers. ( Not much hope for her improvement ! )

It is true about smoking and circulation, chronic sores, heart, brain -- it has lots of impact on the blood vessels and tissues all over the body, not just on the lungs. So many people just don't want to believe it.

I remember in my college physiology class, the instructor had a chick embryo in a petri dish under a magnifier so we could all see the tiny beating heart and blood vessels. She dropped a single drop of nicotine tincture on it. The blood vessels immediately contracted to near invisibility before the heart stopped. That was a dramatic lesson on the effect of nicotine.