Puffy hands

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

Yes, when I walk or run any decent distance. Goes away after a couple of hours.

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:

I find it lessens when I walk with my arms slightly bent. :-)

This happens to me a lot in the Summer - for some reason heat makes me retain water and my hands get super puffy. So much so that my MD has me on a very low-dose water pill for the hot months so I don't completely swell up like a balloon.

it's water retention and since your arms are usually down when you're walking, it kind of goes into your fingers. That's what my doctor told me at some point. Try to raise your hands when you walk, and drink more water while you exercise.

I have been told it is caused by your body trying to cool itself down. And i have noticed it does it to me when i get really hot and as i am cooling down they slowly go back to normal. I also try to hold something cool when i am done with my workout.

does holding something cool work?

I noticed my hands do the same thing when I walk/jog....its really odd but seems to go down once I get home and relax for a while. I got a little worried but reading here it seems like it happens to quite a few peeps.