Cold hands: reasons and how to warm them up sustainably

Cold hands plague many people, especially in the winter. We explain the causes and show you what you can do to ensure that your hands are warm and have good blood circulation again.

Anyone who suffers from chronically cold hands has a particularly difficult time in winter. Many people make do with external heat sources, for example in the form of a hot water bottle, a cherry stone pillow or a hot cup of tea in their hand. However, heating water or body pillows costs energy and can cause disruptive interruptions to everyday work. It is often not even possible to warm yourself with such aids, for example while traveling on the train.

Alternatively, there are natural and healthy ways to get rid of your cold hands for a longer period of time – so that they stay comfortably warm even after the cup of tea is empty.

We’ll explain to you what causes the feeling of cold, why some suffer from it more than others and what you can do to keep your hands warm on their own from now on.

Hormonal cause: This is why women often have cold hands

Women in particular often seem to suffer from cold hands: Since they have less muscle mass on average than men, they freeze more quickly overall. Men also have thicker skin. There are also hormonal differences: the female hormone estrogen increases fat production. This fat protects the inside of the body, but the skin still feels cold.

But: Not every woman gets cold faster than every man. And both women and men can protect themselves from heat loss.

Cold hands in the office

Cold hands can be a sign that you have poor circulation. Blood flow is often poorer, especially for people in office jobs: If you sit a lot, your legs and arms do not receive optimal blood flow. You will then feel a tingling sensation in your legs or hands or even shiver.

If you need to warm up your cold hands quickly, you can also rub the insides of your hands together until they feel better again. An ergonomic mouse pad can also help against cold hands on the PC.

What to do about cold hands?

Exercise is the best way to combat cold hands. Here’s how to get your fingers warm again quickly:

• Regular exercise: Find a sport that you enjoy and try to do it regularly. If you find it difficult to find motivation for exercise, please take a look at our guide. Important for the winter: Find out whether you can practice your sport in sub-zero temperatures and what you should pay attention to. Exercising during your lunch break can also be a solution to cold hands.

• Frequent walks: Even if you don’t like sports, a walk after work or sitting in the library for a long time is like medicine for your muscles and blood vessels.

• Gymnastics at work: Try to incorporate short exercises into your everyday work routine. Get up more often to get a glass of water, stretch your arms and legs, open and close your hands with your fingers spread. And even if you have to stay sitting for a long time, it helps to learn to sit properly. You can do yoga exercises for the home office again and again without any equipment and a lot of space in between.

• Stretching your back: In our guide we will show you how you can incorporate quick and efficient back exercises into your everyday life. Releasing your tension can help with blood circulation and not only helps against cold hands, but simply feels better.

• Don’t let winter intimidate you: you should get enough exercise, especially in the cold season. Wrap yourself warmly and try to breathe in fresh forest air regularly. You don’t necessarily have to be physically active like you do with winter hiking. Pure forest bathing is also very good.

• And don’t forget: Always have the right gloves with you, ideally pairs made of insulating and high-quality materials. Avoid synthetic materials like polyester. Products made from synthetic fiber often look particularly warm and cozy, but provide little insulation. Depending on whether you use the gloves for long walks, sports, or even gardening, you will need different materials.

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Healthy nutrition to combat cold hands

If you suffer from cold hands or a general sensitivity to cold, this may indicate a deficiency in your diet. For example, vascular calcification and blockages can be a cause of cold hands or fingers. Vitamins and trace elements are important for a strong immune system. Therefore, make sure you get enough vitamin C and zinc, especially in winter.

In addition, an iron deficiency can cause you to feel constantly cold. In this case, too, women are more often affected because their menstrual periods can have a significant impact on their iron levels. Unfortunately, vegetarians and vegans can also suffer from iron deficiency, as our bodies cannot absorb plant-based iron as well. But that doesn’t have to be the case with the following tips:

• Vitamin C helps those affected to bind iron better.

• In addition, vegetarians can eat more foods containing iron.

You should only take dietary supplements if your doctor has diagnosed a deficiency.

On top of that, don’t forget to drink enough to prevent cold hands. With the low temperatures, it can be difficult to reach for a water bottle regularly. However, too little fluid in your bloodstream causes the blood to thicken and flow more slowly.

Our tip: always take a pot of tea or hot lemon with you. This way you can drink fluids regularly and also warm up. (You can find stylish, environmentally friendly and BPA-free drinking bottles in our list of the best)

You should also avoid alcohol and cigarettes or consume less if you tend to have cold hands. Both can also lead to problems with the blood vessels.

Avoid stress when your fingers are cold

But stress can also lead to cold hands and feet because it redistributes blood flow – away from the skin and towards the heart. This also results in a cold nose. Anyone who suffers from a lot of stress is more likely to be tense due to constant nervousness.

Depending on where your stress comes from, you can prevent cold hands caused by stress in the following ways:

• Try meditation or autogenic training. You can register for a course or do a guided meditation on YouTube or via the app. Find a relaxation technique that suits you.
• Create a to-do list to plan efficiently. Feelings of stress often arise because you have lost track of your tasks. Once you sort them out, they seem more harmless.
• Gradually improve your time management to prevent stress in the long term.
• Learn to use your time in nature to combat stress.

Cold hands due to illness

Chronic cold hands can also indicate more serious medical conditions, such as:

• Heart disease: With all types of heart disease, blood circulation can be disrupted and lead to cold hands. But especially with so-called bradycardia, patients have a constantly slowing heart rate and therefore chronically low blood pressure. In order to supply the heart adequately, too little blood often flows to peripheral parts of the body such as the hands.

• Hormonal disorder (e.g. hypothyroidism): One of the causes of bradycardia can be, among other things, the so-called hypothyroidism. In this disease, certain hormones that are important for metabolism are produced less. As a result, various metabolic functions run more slowly, including blood flow throughout the body. This leads to feelings of weakness and a greater feeling of cold – especially in the hands and feet.

• Diabetes: With diabetes, vascular regulation is out of sync, which leads to cold hands. Constantly elevated blood sugar can lead to the nerves being attacked and a so-called peripheral neuropathy developing. The blood flow to the damaged nerves of the arms, hands, legs and feet can be disrupted in severe diabetes, whereupon the poor blood circulation causes them to become cold.

• Autoimmune diseases: In autoimmune diseases such as rheumatism, inflamed nerves in the joints are also responsible for disrupting blood flow. The wrists and finger joints are usually the first to be affected.

• Raynaud’s syndrome: If a feeling of “bloodlessness” in your fingers even causes pain, you may have Raynaud’s syndrome. With this disease, patients experience vascular spasms that occur in very sudden attacks. You can recognize this because your hands, but also your feet, nose or earlobes, turn bluish-pale. Eventually they can even become very red. The syndrome is mostly a result of other autoimmune diseases and women also suffer from this syndrome more often. By changing your lifestyle and reducing stress, you can also get these symptoms under control.

To be sure that your cold hands are not caused by a serious illness, you should seek medical advice if symptoms persist or if you have any doubts.

Edited by Lea Hermann

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