Are you one of those people whose hands and feet are always cold?
I know that my hands and feet have always been that way. From my mom pointing out that my feet really shouldn’t be purple because they’ll fall off, to different boyfriends telling me how cold my hands are, everyone seems to be in a rush to point out that my hands and feet are cold.
If this sounds anything like you, you’re probably torn between being really sick of hearing about it and actually being a little worried.
But don’t worry, BuzzFeed asked an expert, Dr. Albert Ahn at the NYU Langone Medical Center, to clear it up, and we have the highlights! And not to worry, it’s nothing like all the stuff people use to worry you.
First off, it’s probably not an issue of circulation. Especially not if you’re in your twenties and thirties, since you’re unlikely to have cardiovascular problems at that age. What it really is is your body conserving heat and energy for the places that need them, which most of the time isn’t your hands or feet.
If your extremities change color when they’re cold, it may be time to see a doctor, like I did. Most likely, it’s not harmful, but it could be Raynaud’s disease, which is just extreme sensitivity to cold. Your feet and hands return to normal color when warm enough, but are likely to keep getting white or blue when you’re cold.
If you are worried that it may be something else, there are plenty of other things that it could be a side effect of that have nothing to do with circulation. Diabetes, nerve damage, anemia, and an underactive thyroid could all be causes of cold fingers and toes. Go see a doctor if your coldness turns into numbness or pins and needles, because it could be a part of one of these.
How do you treat it if it’s not serious? Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do beyond socks and mittens. And make sure your shoes are the right size so you’re not constricting blood flow!
