Welcome to our Fall 2023 RA Q&A column. We created these posts to share our responses to inquiries we receive from fellow Frosties about Raynaud’s symptoms, products, treatments, warming strategies and more. We hope you’re finding them helpful in addressing some of your own questions.
Can you suggest products for cold feet and a cold body?
We’re asked about products for cold feet quite often and created an article focused on products that offer warm toe solutions. Here’s the link: Best Warm Toe Solutions for Raynaud’s Sufferers.
Most of our focus is on warming cold fingers and toes, but we work with manufacturers that offer heated vests and jackets that are great for warming the whole body. G-Tech makes a terrific toasty vest that we reviewed in our January Update. Other manufacturers who make quality vests and jackets include Volt and Gobi.
Hope some of the above suggestions work for you!
What are the most effective medications or treatments for this condition? The current meds I’ve been on have not worked. Please let me know the current treatment for this syndrome.
We published an article recently that outlines the available treatment options for Raynaud’s patients. Here’s the link: Treatment Options for Raynaud’s Phenomenon.
Please keep in mind that what works well for one sufferer may not be as effective for the next one or might involve side effects, as our bodies respond differently to each drug.
I hope you’ll find the article helpful. If you have any additional questions, please get back in touch.
I have had White Finger Syndrome for some time but it is not too much of a problem. I sometimes get it in the winter when playing tennis and then it is a bit of a nuisance. I see there are many different gloves to help this condition. Can you recommend a light to medium weight glove suitable for tennis?
We don’t have a tennis player on our team, but can suggest some lighter weight gloves that we’ve tested that have quite a lot of dexterity.
First, are Glider Gloves. These are touchscreen-friendly gloves allowing you to use your mobile devices outdoors. They have three layers of warmth and protection – but are still lightweight and offer good dexterity. Not only are the gloves warmer than standard touchscreen gloves, they offer full touch response and have grippers built into the fabric to keep mobile devices from slipping (we assume it will do the same for holding a tennis racquet). Here’s our product review with order information and our member discount code: https://www.raynauds.org/product/glider-gloves/
Next, consider The Writer’s Glove (come in pairs, but the name is singular). These are a thin, stretchy combination of polyester and spandex, with a hint of copper (known to help regulate blood flow and boost circulation). They were designed for use indoors offering enough dexterity for typing (after a few minutes to adjust to them), but they would also make a good liners for gloves or mittens, and possibly could offer enough warmth on a cool day for playing tennis. Here’s our product review with order information and our member discount code: https://www.raynauds.org/product/the-writers-glove/
Another option to consider is a fingerless glove like Wristies, as the fingers are free for motion. While the tips of your fingers aren’t protected, we do find they help keep the hands warmer because by warming the wrists it helps open the blood flow to the fingers. They are made of comfy, stretchy Polartec®. Wristies come in long and short lengths, and are great for layering under a coat outdoors, but they also provide a good measure of warmth with the freedom to type, shop and maybe play tennis or pickleball. There’s also a Heated Wristie with a pocket to hold disposable hand warmers. Here’s our product review with order information and our member discount code: https://www.raynauds.org/product/wristies-and-heated-wristies/
Hope the above information is helpful.
Do you have a list of physicians whose focuses include Raynaud’s Syndrome?
We don’t maintain a list of doctors, but the type of specialist you should see is a rheumatologist. These are the doctors who are most knowledgeable about Raynaud’s, as they treat the more serious autoimmune diseases that can be associated with the condition.
You can search for a rheumatologist in your area on the website for the American College of Rheumatology at https://my.rheumatology.org/rheumatology-provider-directory. If you have several options locally, we suggest finding one associated with a good teaching hospital, as they tend to be more up to speed on research and treatment options. Hope that helps!
Hello! Was wondering after checking your site if you guys have any info on Raynaud’s and a vegan/plant base diet?
Unfortunately, we don’t have any information regarding vegan/plant-based diets. There’s very little research available on the dietary impact on Raynaud’s, and the little information that is available involves small sample sizes and inconsistent research methodologies, so it’s difficult to identify true statistically significant results.
We’ll continue to search the literature and keep our members and followers posted if new information becomes available.
My question is about gloves in particular because other than warm/hot water rinses, nothing really works for me. I’ve used Hot Hands, but think I’d rather try something else. Also does a sufferer of the syndrome need a particular prescription for any special glove types in order to get a better price?
We get lots of questions about gloves, and wish there was an easy answer, but the best glove solutions depend on a number of factors like: Use indoors vs. outdoors, activity outdoors and amount of time to be spent there, weather conditions, degree of dexterity required, need for fashion vs. comfort and warmth, and more.
To address these questions and some of the accompanying options, we created this post: Best Gloves (or Mittens) for Raynaud’s Sufferers. The article was first written several years ago, but we keep updating it, so not to worry about products being out of date, or not covering new ones on the market.
As far as we know, there are no prescriptive glove products made for Raynaud’s sufferers. But you may find some good gloves, along with other warming options, in our Product Showcase. Feel free to use our member discount codes if you find something you’d like to try!
We’d appreciate your feedback on our Fall 2023 RA Q&A column. Have questions for us? We’re not medical professionals or the Good Housekeeping Lab when it comes to testing products, but we’ll do our best to provide fellow Frosties with answers. Write to us at info@raynauds.org.
