Warm Hands: 9 Causes And When To See A Doctor - Greatist

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GreatistToo Hot to Handle: 9 Causes of Warm Hands That May Call for a Trip to the Doc

Medically reviewed by Angela M. Bell, MD, FACP — Written by Kacie Main on March 31, 2021

Causes
When to see your doc
The bottom line

Psychology says that physical temperature can affect how we feel about and act towards other people.

So basically, if you’re holding a warm oat milk latte while standing in the elevator with your way-too-loud neighbor, your warm hands might make you warm up to them. Warm hands, warm heart. 💕

But what if your hands are super warm but there’s no oat milk latte in sight? How do you know if you need to see your doc?

We’ve got you. Here are nine potential causes of warm hands that may warrant a trip to your doctor.

Possible causes of warm hands

rheumatoid arthritis
gout
carpal tunnel syndrome
fibromyalgia
cellulitis
peripheral neuropathy
palmar erythema
complex regional pain syndrome
erythromelalgia

person with warm hands raising their arms against a wall — Patricia Boyce / EyeEm/Getty Images

What’s bringing the heat?

1. Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that causes chronic inflammation in your joints. RA usually starts to affect smaller areas first (hello hands!), and it can make your joints feel warm.

Other symptoms of RA include:

fever
fatigue
joint deformity
loss of appetite
joint stiffness
tender or swollen joints

Causes

The medical community still doesn’t know, but they have identified several risk factors, including:

Sex. It’s more common in women.
Age. Your risk increases as you get older.
Weight. Having obesity increases your risk.
Smoking. Those who smoke have an increased risk.

Treatment

There is no cure for RA, but your doctor can help you manage the pain and slow the joint damage through medications, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery.

2. Gout

Gout is another form of inflammatory arthritis in the joints. While it mostly goes for your lower extremities, gout can also affect your wrists and fingers. During a bout of gout, you’ll experience pain, swelling, redness, and — you guessed it — heat in affected joints.

Cause

The usual suspect is hyperuricemia, a condition that causes elevated uric acid in your blood. Men may be more likely to develop hyperuricemia, but there are other contributing factors, including:

having certain health conditions, including obesity, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and diabetes
drinking alcohol
consuming a lot of fructose
eating a lot of purine-rich foods, like red meat, organ meat, mussels, scallops, trout, and tuna

Treatment

There’s no cure for gout, but it can be treated and managed with anti-inflammatory medication and maintenance, like eating a balanced diet and increasing physical activity.

3. Carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome — a condition where your median nerve gets compressed or pinched — could also be a culprit.

Your median nerve is responsible for giving you feeling in most of your fingers, so this compression can cause sensations like warmth, tingling, numbness, and pain in your fingers.

Causes

Carpal tunnel syndrome is pretty common and have multiple causes:

rheumatoid arthritis
overactive pituitary gland
underactive thyroid gland
frequent use of vibrating tools
cyst or tumor in the carpal tunnel
mechanical problems in the wrist joint
fluid retention due to pregnancy or menopause
swelling from a sprain, fracture, or other trauma to the wrist

Treatment

Severe carpal tunnel syndrome is often treated with surgery, but there are also nonsurgical options to give a go first:

splinting
taking breaks from activities that worsen symptoms
anti-inflammatory medication
physical therapy
acupuncture

4. Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that likes to dress up as arthritis, causing joint stiffness and numbness or tingling in your hands that can feel like a burning sensation. But fibromyalgia isn’t a form of arthritis because it doesn’t cause any actual damage to your joints or tissues.

It comes with a laundry list of symptoms, though, including:

brain fog
headaches
restless leg syndrome
irritable bowel syndrome
sensitivity to temperature
painful menstrual periods
sensitivity to loud noises or bright lights
trouble sleeping and waking up feeling unrested

Cause

There isn’t a known cause of fibromyalgia, but you’re more likely to have it if someone else in your fam has it. There also aren’t any lab tests that can confirm fibromyalgia, so it’s a tough one to diagnose.

Treatment

While there isn’t a cure for fibromyalgia, your doctor may prescribe one or more of the following to manage your symptoms:

exercising, getting more sleep, and eating a balanced diet
alternative therapies, including acupuncture, massage, and herbal supplements
medications, including antidepressants, painkillers, and anti-inflammatory drugs

5. Cellulitis

Cellulitis is a common bacterial skin infection that causes pain, redness, swelling, and heat at the infected area. It occurs most often in the legs, but it can happen anywhere on the body, including your hands. Other symptoms include fever, blisters, and soreness of the affected area.

Cause

Cellulitis is caused by bacteria entering your system through a cut, scrape, insect bite, burn, or surgical incision. Anyone can get cellulitis, but you’re more susceptible to it if you have one of the following:

obesity
lymphedema
chronic illness
impaired immune system
skin conditions that cause breaks in the skin, like shingles or eczema

Treatment

If you have cellulitis, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics to clear the infection. It usually stays on the skin’s surface, but it can spread to other areas of the body, so seek treatment ASAP if you suspect you have it.

6. Peripheral neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a catchall term for any condition that damages the peripheral nervous system, which is how your brain talks with the rest of your body.

Depending on which nerves are affected, symptoms can range from losing reflexes and the ability to feel pain to excessive sweating and tingling sensations.

Causes

There are a bunch of potential underlying causes that can cause peripheral neuropathy, including:

diabetes
infections
physical injury
hormonal imbalances
autoimmune diseases
kidney and liver disorders
vascular and blood problems
nutritional or vitamin imbalances
certain cancers and chemotherapy drugs

Treatment

First and foremost, your doctor will try to figure out the underlying cause of your peripheral neuropathy. If it can be treated, your nerves may be able to heal on their own.

If your pain is chronic, your doctor may prescribe pain or antidepressant medications or recommend nerve stimulation or surgery.

7. Palmar erythema

Palmar erythema is a rare skin condition that causes redness and warmth in the heel of the palm and sometimes the fingers. The redness is typically blotchy, and the severity varies.

Causes

Palmar erythema is sometimes hereditary, sometimes has no known cause, and other times results from certain conditions, including:

liver disease
pregnancy
autoimmune diseases
endocrine issues
brain cancer
lung disease
certain infections

Treatment

There is no treatment for palmar erythema. To find relief, you’ll work with your doc to address the underlying causes of your symptoms.

8. Complex regional pain syndrome

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) can also cause temperature changes in the skin. This condition involves damaged nerves that cause pain and inflammation in an arm or leg.

Additional symptoms include:

swelling
joint stiffness
changes in bone density
unprovoked or excess pain
changes in skin color or texture
impaired muscle strength and movement
abnormal sweating or nail and hair growth

Causes

The nerve damage associated with CRPS is typically caused by physical injury (fracture, sprain, strain) or surgery. Less common causes are tiny clots that restrict blood flow to a nerve, tumors, certain infections, or abnormal blood vessels.

Treatment

Treatment options for CRPS include:

rehabilitation and physical therapy
medications
spinal cord stimulation
spinal fluid drug pumps
neurostimulation
sympathetic nerve blocks
alternative therapies like acupuncture

9. Erythromelalgia

Erythromelalgia is rare, but it’s known to cause burning pain in your hands, along with discoloration, swelling, and excessive sweating. The symptoms are usually triggered when your body temperature increases for any reason.

Causes

The condition is usually caused by underlying medical issues, like:

blood disorders
nerve damage
multiple sclerosis
autoimmune disease
defective gene

Treatment

Your course of treatment will depend on your specific case of erythromelalgia. Here’s what your doc might recommend:

aspirin
antidepressants
local anesthetics
prescription pain relievers
anti-epilepsy medication
blood pressure medication
dietary supplements like magnesium

When to see your doc

Unless your warm hands can be explained by temperature changes, wearing gloves, or holding a hot drink, there could be a medical reason you’re no cool hand Luke.

If your hot hands persist, talk with your doctor to see what’s bringing the heat. They will assess your medical history and other symptoms to develop a treatment plan that’s right for you (high five!).

The bottom line

Warm hands might mean warm, fuzzy feelings in the world of psychology — but if your warm hands are accompanied by other symptoms, your body might be waving a red flag. If that’s the case, make sure to call your doc to chat about potential causes and treatment options.

11 sourcescollapsed

Autoimmune diseases. (2016).https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/autoimmune-diseases
Carpal tunnel syndrome fact sheet. (2020).https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Carpal-Tunnel-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet
Complex regional pain syndrome fact sheet. (2020).https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/patient-caregiver-education/fact-sheets/complex-regional-pain-syndrome-fact-sheet
Erythromelalgia. (2020).https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/erythromelalgia/
Fibromyalgia. (2014).https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/fibromyalgia/advanced
Gout. (2020).https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/gout.html
Peripheral neuropathy. (2020).https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/patient-caregiver-education/fact-sheets/peripheral-neuropathy-fact-sheet
Rheumatoid arthritis. (2019).https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/rheumatoid-arthritis
Shand G. (2015). Palmar erythema.https://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/palmar-erythema/
Stanway A. (2016). Cellulitis.https://dermnetnz.org/topics/cellulitis/
Warm hands, warm feelings. (2008).https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/warm-hands-warm-feelings

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Medically reviewed by Angela M. Bell, MD, FACP — Written by Kacie Main on March 31, 2021

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Possible causes of warm hands

What’s bringing the heat?

1. Rheumatoid arthritis

Causes

Treatment

2. Gout

Cause

Treatment

3. Carpal tunnel syndrome

Causes

Treatment

4. Fibromyalgia

Cause

Treatment

5. Cellulitis

Cause

Treatment

6. Peripheral neuropathy

Causes

Treatment

7. Palmar erythema

Causes

Treatment

8. Complex regional pain syndrome

Causes

Treatment

9. Erythromelalgia

Causes

Treatment

When to see your doc

The bottom line

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