Puffy hands

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WitchesGuildMaster
WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
in Fitness and Exercise
So I walk for exercise...about 5 miles a day. But during the last few minutes my fingers start to feel slightly stiff when bending, almost like their puffy. After the workout it goes down again.

Has anyone else experienced this? :huh: What is it?
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Replies

  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I get it whenever I do a lot of walking without really doing anything with my hands. No idea what causes it - blood flow being prioritised elsewhere maybe? IDK.
  • Kelly2300
    Kelly2300 Posts: 43 Member
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    Mine do it too and I have always thought it was blood pooling in my hands. If you hold them up by your shoulders when swinging your arms, or clench and unclench your fist, it will help.
  • Laurenloveswaffles
    Laurenloveswaffles Posts: 535 Member
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    Are you letting your arms just dangle, or are you using them for momentum while walking?
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    So I walk for exercise...about 5 miles a day. But during the last few minutes my fingers start to feel slightly stiff when bending, almost like their puffy. After the workout it goes down again.

    wow.. I experienced this many times...ironically it happens when I walk 7-8 miles, but if I run 7-8 miles I don't get anything.

    bumping to hear what our diagnosis is.
  • tibby531
    tibby531 Posts: 717 Member
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    I get itchy, swollen, tingly/numb hands from time to time when running. I've been told that it's just my carpal tunnel acting up, but it really freaked me out for a while! if I use my arms for momentum, and don't clench my fists, it seems to keep the blood flowing more-properly and the "weird side effects" don't occur as much.
  • Lift_Run_Eat
    Lift_Run_Eat Posts: 986 Member
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    I too have this problem and asked my trainer. He told me I needed to drink more water.

    I also googled it and found a couple things:

    http://walking.about.com/cs/med/a/swollenhands.htm

    Electrolyte imbalance: Electrolytes are the salts in your bloodstream, which must be kept in balance to prevent swelling in the tissues (edema). When you sweat, you lose salt. When you eat too much salt, you body has to work to balance it with more fluid. Either way, you may have swelling. Appropriate use of a sports drink that replaces electrolytes, as well as taking in the right volume of fluid (not too much, not too little) are key to maintaining electrolyte balance.
    Drinking Guidelines for Distance Walkers

    Arm Motion (or lack of it): There is some debate on whether certain types of arm motion force more fluid into the hands by "centrifugal force." Walking with your hands constantly below your heart makes it more difficult for the circulatory system to return your blood flow back from your hands.

    Racewalking coach Bonnie Stein of Acewalker.com describes "blood pooling." Our leg muscles are working hard during a walk and help return blood from the lower body. Despite this, your feet still swell as much as a full shoe size during a long walk. The arm muscles are smaller and in less use when walking, so they don't help as much in returning blood from the hands. This may lead to the swelling.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Are you clenching your hands? Are you overhydrating? If no, then see a doctor and get a professional opinion.
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
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    When I walk I dont do anything with my hands just let them dangle I guess. Might be that. Glad to hear there's others as I thought there was something wrong with me! :happy:
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    Are you clenching your hands? Are you overhydrating? If no, then see a doctor and get a professional opinion.

    nope


    overhydrating? - I have to over hydrate I have creatine and a ton of other supplements pumping all through my body.

    ^am I tracking my sodium intake?

    ah - AND

    ^it is balanced with a potassium ratio
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    I may be a little off on the logistics of this, but have experienced it... when you're swinging your arms when walking or running for extended amounts of time, you force blood (or just fluid?) to your hands and fingers.

    @MrTolerable - the reason it might happen to you during a 7-8mi walk but not a 7-8mi run is because you'd be completing the run in a faster time that it would take you to walk it, so you're spending more time moving your arms back and forth when walking that distance vs. running.

    This used to happen to me all the time when I trained for and completed a full marathon. At the end of any run over 20 miles, I had giant sausage fingers that lasted for an hour or two. Had I been wearing any rings or bracelets during that time - they would have needed to be cut off. My fingers would swell so bad that I couldn't make a fist. Though, when I ran that distance, balances of electrolytes may have also attributed to or exacerbated the swelling. Not sure if the humidity or outside temperature has anything to do with this - but the marathon was 90% humidity and 85 degrees.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Happens to me when I walk for a long time- not when I run.

    I think its' the lack of blood flow- since the hands are just DOWN. There is no question mine are puffy and sausage looking at the end of several hours of hiking.

    Hate that feeling- and I do a lot to try to prevent it- but it still happens LOL.

    Totally normal though.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I get this too, especially as it gets hotter and more humid out. It definitely helps to engage your arms by pumping them, the same as you would if running. Also try clenching and stretching your hands from time to time.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Yeah, I am really familiar with the sausage fingers. It is just water collecting there. When I am on a trail, I take a walking stick and switch hands frequently. The constant squeezing and loosening of the hand on the handle helps prevent the fluid from collecting. Otherwise, I either just accept it or try to keep my hands equal to or above heart level much of the time I am walking. When I do my annual 22 mile lake circuit, I take my rings off and know I won't be able to wear them again until the next day.

    It doesn't seem to matter whether I am well hydrated or not, the fluid just likes to collect in the fingers if I let them dangle.
  • silverstarrlyte
    silverstarrlyte Posts: 83 Member
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    I do this some times as well. I make sure to pump my arms and sometimes raise them over my head and wiggle my fingers...
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
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    Thanks for all the advice!

    I noticed also I don't get puffy fingers if I'm texting all the time as I walk. I like to text as it takes my mind off my aching legs :laugh: but I've stopped doing it because the fact that my body is straight up and my head is looking down on the phone, means my spine isn't straight and it gives me quite the backache.
  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
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    It's all a blood flow thing. I had that happen. I also will get itchy red swollen areas anywhere I have veins close to the surface. I was told it has to do with how my blood circulates; because I'm overweight, it takes more work to get my blood all the way through my body and if I don't properly warm up I have a reaction to the sluggish flow but fast heartrate. I dunno how much truth there is in that, but I do know if I start with a warm up, it doesn't happen as often.

    For swollen hands, I know I need to get them above my heart to make sure my circulation is fine.
  • Tilim
    Tilim Posts: 48 Member
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    I get the too..I also get them if I stand in the heat for too long :(
  • otter090812
    otter090812 Posts: 380 Member
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    Yes, when I walk or run any decent distance. Goes away after a couple of hours.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    I may be a little off on the logistics of this, but have experienced it... when you're swinging your arms when walking or running for extended amounts of time, you force blood (or just fluid?) to your hands and fingers.

    @MrTolerable - the reason it might happen to you during a 7-8mi walk but not a 7-8mi run is because you'd be completing the run in a faster time that it would take you to walk it, so you're spending more time moving your arms back and forth when walking that distance vs. running.

    This used to happen to me all the time when I trained for and completed a full marathon. At the end of any run over 20 miles, I had giant sausage fingers that lasted for an hour or two. Had I been wearing any rings or bracelets during that time - they would have needed to be cut off. My fingers would swell so bad that I couldn't make a fist. Though, when I ran that distance, balances of electrolytes may have also attributed to or exacerbated the swelling. Not sure if the humidity or outside temperature has anything to do with this - but the marathon was 90% humidity and 85 degrees.

    :flowerforyou: you could be a detective.

    nice reasoning. :drinker:
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    I get this too, especially as it gets hotter and more humid out. It definitely helps to engage your arms by pumping them, the same as you would if running. Also try clenching and stretching your hands from time to time.

    true only happens in the summer months


    ..either that or during the winter months they are to numb to notice just about anything going on with 'em :laugh:

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