Cold Hands While Gaming? A Guide To Short-Term And Long-Term ...

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• Matthew Hwu
• December 21, 2017
• 4:35 am
• 2 Comments

Introduction

Hey Gamers, how many of you have experienced cold hands while gaming? This is a very common topic that almost every gamer has experienced in their gaming careers. Our goal today is to help you guys better understand what causes this and help you make the BEST decision on what to do going forward.

When we’re cold, we want to keep our essential organs warm!

Cold Hands Misunderstood in Gaming

Cold hands are…… A NORMAL RESPONSE. When exposed to the cold our bodies intentionally redirect blood superficially to internal organs to protect the body from excessive heat loss. It is important for us gamers to understand and realize the majority of us who experience cold hands when playing (especially for long periods of time) are dealing with a normal response to cold.

This is not to say that there aren’t very serious medical diseases which can cause cold hands. Cold hands are often related to some of the following medical diagnoses which affect microcirculation:

1. Raynaud’s Syndrome
2. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
3. Rheumatoid Arthritis
4. Scleroderma
5. Buerger’s Disease

It is however quite rare for these to be the primary cause of cold hands when we game. I want to make it clear I am not understating the importance of identifying whether you have any of these conditions but more I want us gamers to realize the MORE LIKELY CAUSES below.

Before I go on, it is important that you do see your medical doctor to clear these potential conditions if you have been experiencing these symptoms for a prolonged period of time and feel that it is affecting your function. Be safe, don’t be sorry 🙂 – please rule out serious conditions if you have the following:

1. Excessive numbness/tingling affecting your daily activities
2. Prolonged cold lasting a couple of hours even after attempting ways to improve

What are some of the more common causes of cold hands in gaming?

As I mentioned above we have a natural response to the cold to redirect blood superficially to internal organs. But there are other potential reasons SPECIFIC TO GAMERS why our microcirculation can be affected which are not as severe as the medical conditions listed above?

 

1. Sedentary Lifestyle  – As we have probably been told many times a lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle can lead to a host of health problems. Poor overall circulation is one of them. We have both vascular (blood vessel) and skeletal muscles which affect circulation from our heart down to the microvessels in our fingers. More exercise means better pumping through both of these muscle types and overall regulation through more healthy systems in our bodies.

A more sedentary lifestyle also means poor tolerance to physical and mental stressors. This means the physical stress of playing for prolonged periods of time without rest affecting our local tissues (fingers) and mental stress of dealing with toxic teammates, rage, losing or just life in general. This can lead to our sympathetic nervous system – the fight or flight response – being overactive. This system acts to increase our heart rate, diverting blood away from our hands, feet and abdomen to larger muscle groups (hips, thighs) as a primitive reflex response to prepare us to flee from a threatening situation.

 

2. Repeated/Chronic Stress – Chronic stress is bad for several reasons from increased risk for heart disease, weakening the immune system, fatigue, pain, etc. However, one other area where chronic stress affects the body is by causing cold hands. This is due to the body being in a constant fight or flight state which redirects blood flow away from the extremities and toward the vital organs. Video games are often played to be competitive and with this brings on stress. 

 

3. Smoking – In addition to all of the health risks associated with smoking (stroke, coronary heart disease, pneumonia, reduced immune function, etc.), smoking has a direct effect on your blood vessels. The chemicals (carbon monoxide) inhaled damaged the inner layer of our blood vessels allowing fats and plaque to stick to the walls. Nicotine then causes our blood vessels to constrict leading to less blood flow and more vascular resistance. With poor circulation caused by smoking, the normal response to cold is exaggerated and our symptoms of cold hands last longer than they should.

 

4. Posture and Grip – Our own posture can also cause hands to be cold. When gaming, many people rest their hands on their desk, lap, or armrests for long periods without changing position. If your hands are positioned too low, it can make it harder for blood to circulate properly. Blood has to work against gravity to reach your fingers, and if you’re not moving much, circulation slows down even more. Additionally, hunching over while gaming can affect your shoulders, neck, and arms, leading to tension and reduced blood flow to your hands. If nerves or blood vessels get compressed due to poor posture, your hands may feel cold or even numb.

Our grip plays a factor as well and often goes together with point number 2, repeated stress. When gaming and engaged in serious competition we tend to hold a mouse or controller firm. Maintaining a constant pressure works against us as there is compression of the capillaries which supply blood to the fingers. You can even observe this for yourself. If you pinch your fingers together notice how around where you’re holding, it will blanch white, this quickly demonstrates how blood flow can be altered just with pressure and if this was done long term than this decrease in blood flow could be a problem.

5. Environment – It should be no surprise that the environment we put ourselves in plays an important role in our own temperature. Just as the body will only sweat when our body temperature is elevated to a certain level, the body will only shiver when the temperature cools to a certain level. These are the body’s ways to help maintain homeostasis and keep the body regulated. Simply put, make sure to check that the environment is not the issue.

Treat the Cause: Long-Term Relief of Cold hands while gaming

As I have said many times before, I’m a firm believer in treating the cause or root of your issue. In order to minimize the risk of cold hands while gaming – I would suggest taking the following steps to address the reasons listed above. I also provide some quick fixes to help get some blood flow to your hands immediately!

 

1. GET MOVING

Are you gaming without taking breaks or taking care of your hands? Remember, repetitive stress can affect microcirculation. General lack of larger movement in your hands can limit the amount of blood flow traveling into the fingers. SO GET MOVING. Exercise more consistently. Go Run, Go Climb, Go to yoga. Movement is Medicine. An easy way to incorporate movement throughout the day is performing short routines throughout the day to undo stress of sitting and prolonged wrist/hand use. Check out our anti-sitting routine or 6-minute post session stretch videos or any of our loot box articles below.

• 6-Minute Post-Session Stretch
• 1HP Loot Box | Slump Edition
• 1HP Loot Box | Neck Pain Edition
• 1HP Loot Box | Anti-Slouch Edition
• 5 Minute Binge proof Wrist
• 9-Minute Wrist Injury Prevention Routine
• Anti-Sitting Routine
• 5-Minute Full-Body Warm-Up Routine

 

2. CHECK YOUR POSTURE/ERGONOMICS

Yep here we go again – These are always the first to be checked to ensure you reduce the risk of repetitive stress on your hands. We want to ensure the microcirculation at our wrist and hands aren’t affected by posture or the development of any wrist/hand injuries. If you have been dealing with cold hands in addition to some wrist pain, it may be a good idea to look at some of our content to address the underlying pain pattern.

1. Repetitive Strain: Managing Gaming’s Biggest Issue
2. Avoiding Injuries by Preventing Overheating?
3. What you need to know about gaming posture
4. Complete Guide to Esports Ergonomics

 

3. STOP SMOKING

While it is easy for me to say that you should stop smoking, I know how hard it is to quit cold turkey. My main goal with this article is to help those of you who smoke realize smoking can contribute to cold hands while gaming so if it has bothered you to the point that you are reading to this point in my article – it may be bad enough to consider at least reducing how often you smoke 🙂

 

4. Mindfulness strategies

As chronic stress is an issue that causes cold hands, it should be understood that managing this stress can also help keep hands warm. Mindfulness strategies such as journaling, box breathing, meditation, or yoga can all be beneficial in terms of decreasing stress/anxiety in order to calm the body and avoid it being in a constant fight or flight state.

3 Steps to Take to Get Relief

Now that we’ve talked about the ways to truly eliminate cold hands while gaming long-term, let me provide some quick ways to improve some blood flow to your hands.

1. Exercises: From posture to local exercises for your wrist and hand, it is important to stay moving after a period of reduced activity (sitting). Through exercise the body is then able to increase blood flow to the tissue while also expending energy which will first force the body to heat up.

Additionally, the fitter you are, the faster the body can now heat up as muscle produces more heat than fat (however there are 2 types of fat in the body (white and brown) and these have different functions when it comes to generating heat). A fit individual who heats up quicker also will respond to these temperature changes and produce sweat quicker with activity. Here’s a list of videos/exercises we’ve put together for you

• 6-Minute Post-Session Stretch
• 1HP Loot Box | Slump Edition
• 1HP Loot Box | Neck Pain Edition
• 1HP Loot Box | Anti-Slouch Edition
• 5 Minute Binge proof Wrist
• 9-Minute Wrist Injury Prevention Routine
• Anti-Sitting Routine
• 5-Minute Full-Body Warm-Up Routine

2. Hand Warmers: As we have likely seen many professionals use in the streams we watch, hand warmers are used very frequently to keep hands warm. These are a SUPERFICIAL source of heat, however. That means that they warm the surface of your hands, but don’t necessarily penetrate deep enough to help warm up the muscles. While they can help to keep you warm once you’ve started warming up, ideally this is more of a support mechanism than a first line of defense when it comes to cold hands.

Hand warming pouches may be nice as prevention before the hands get cold and may even pair well with a hand warmer to get both the palmar surface and back of hand. Lastly, gaming gloves could be considered, however this can also introduce other variables that may affect performance such as decreased sensibility and possible changes to control or coordination.

• Hand Warming Pouch (Great for heating entire hand, but more expensive and and less portable)
• Electric Hand Warmer (Great for portability and quickly heating the hands but fails to heat entire hand)

3. Dietary Changes: Lastly there are several dietary modifications you can make to improve your circulation. Pomegranates, blueberries, dark chocolate and other antioxidant rich foods (salmon, broccoli, kale, spinach) can be great snacks to have while you game to improve your circulation. Almonds along with other sunflower seeds which have vitamin E can improve your circulation. Taking regular fish-oil supplementation has also been shown to improve circulatory function.

In general a well rounded diet that promotes a healthier life is important for a variety of factors from recovery to performance to improved circulation. If you’d like to learn more about diet/nutrition needs feel free to schedule a consultation here with our own Registered Dietitian.

Clinical Conditions

Raynaud’s Syndrome

Raynaud’s Syndrome is a condition where the small blood vessels of the fingers and toes receive poor blood supply. This may result in skin color changes, cold skin, numbness, and/or a pins/needles feeling. These changes are often a result of stress and exposure to cold temperatures in which a vasospastic attack occurs. This in turn makes the capillaries and arterioles in the affected area constrict or tighten more than they need to.

 

The area will then look white or blue and have a reduced touch sensation due to the lack of oxygenated blood. This is then followed by reperfusion or a rush of oxygenated blood back to the tissue that was previously deprived of oxygen. This will initiate the feeling of pins/needles and a red pigment change to the skin with the new oxygenated blood. 

 

Raynaud’s syndrome is more common affecting roughly 1 in 20 individuals and is more prevalent in females under the age of 30. This condition is largely genetic, but can also occur due to certain underlying conditions, disease, or medication use. Treatment for this is largely focused on activity modification/lifestyle changes and avoiding cold temperatures.

Cold Urticaria

Cold urticaria is a condition which causes an allergic reaction towards cold temperatures. This can often result in a rash or hives to the exposed spot in where contact was made. Currently, treatment for this condition focuses on activity modification and avoiding cold foods/drinks and temperatures, but can also be treated to some degree with drugs and injections. This is a very rare condition which can present in some for years, but can also last a lifetime. This condition is not contagious and appears to only be genetic.

*Please contact your primary physician if any of these conditions seem to be affecting you.

Conclusion

Remember cold hands is a normal response to exposure to a cold environment. While there are very serious causes for medical conditions (which you should clear with your MD if you have serious concerns), cold hands are usually caused by less severe causes which we can address with simple changes to our lifestyle and how often we move. There are also quick fixes you can perform to improve circulation both globally (your body) and locally (your wrist/hands). If you feel that sweaty hands are more of an issue than click here to read this article explaining various methods to help with this.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Cold hands misunderstood in gaming

What are some of the more common causes of cold hands in gaming?

Treat the cause: Long-term relief of cold hands while gaming

3 steps to take to get relief

Clinical conditions

Conclusion

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2 Comments

• generic cialis

  Posted at 17:43h, 02 January Log in to Reply

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• sparkingskies

  Posted at 18:32h, 22 February Log in to Reply

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