Raynauds Syndrome

Natural Ways to Warm Up

Mary Kildare (not her real name) lived in Alaska and, like other 26-year-olds, she loved to ski and snowmobile. Then she developed Raynaud's disease, a circulatory problem that periodically triggers spasms in the blood vessels of the fingers and toes. At relatively mild temperatures of 50°F or so, Kildare experienced the kind of tingling and severe pain that most people feel in subzero temperatures. Her fingertips turned white, her toes turned blue and the pain was excruciating. She had to wear gloves to take food out of the refrigerator.

Having Raynaud's meant that skiing and snowmobiling were now out of the question. In fact, Kildare's symptoms were so severe that she couldn't even drive a car in winter. By the time that she got to the car and got it warmed up, the agony was incapacitating.

HYDROTHERAPY WITH A TWIST

Kildare's doctors tried the usual treatments for Raynaud's. First, they prescribed calcium channel blockers, medications customarily used to relax coronary blood vessels and treat the heart-related chest pain angina. But the drugs caused unpleasant side effects. Her doctors also tried rauwolfia alkaloids (Reserpine)--a drug normally used to treat high blood pressure, it controls nerve impulses along certain nerve pathways. The drug worked for four months, but Kildare's symptoms recurred.

Doctors know that Raynaud's disease sets in when tiny arteries in the fingertips constrict. With blood flow cut off, people get painfully cold sensations in their fingers and toes. Surgery can sometimes correct the condition, and Kildare's doctors considered it at first. But before going ahead, they sent her to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts. There, medical researchers taught Kildare an innovative cold-reconditioning technique that holds promise for men and women with Raynaud's disease.

Standing in a cold room, Kildare dipped her hands in 105°F water four times a day, every other day, for eight minutes. After just one week, she started to improve. She found that she could tolerate colder and colder temperatures without pain, and the constrictions were fewer and less severe.

Kildare practiced the cold-reconditioning technique at home on her porch. Every year, before the onset of winter, she repeated the reconditioning sessions. After seven years, she was still controlling Raynaud's without medication--and was once again able to ski and snowmobile.

Researchers who developed the cold-reconditioning technique, also called the submersion technique, say it works by training your blood vessels to relax (dilate) rather than constrict when exposed to cold.

The submersion technique may be somewhat time-consuming, but the results are worth it, says Murray Hamlet, director of research, plans and operations at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. For best results, he advises doing it in winter when you can use a cold outside area as well as a warm inside area. Then follow this procedure.

* Fill two buckets or Styrofoam coolers with water of about 100°F.
Place one container in a cold area such as an outdoor patio and
the other in a warm room.

* Dressed lightly, in the warm room, immerse both your hands in the
water for two to five minutes.

* Wrap your hands in a towel and go to the cold area. Again put your
hands in the 100°F water--this time for ten minutes.

* Return indoors and put both hands in the 100°F water for two to
five more minutes.

* Repeat the procedure three to six times a day, every other day.

Many people who try the submersion technique experience remission of Raynaud's after only a few repetitions, notes Dr. Hamlet. Some people, however, may need to repeat the procedure as often as 40 to 50 times over the course of several days.

Brain-Train Your Body with Biofeedback
and Visualization

When combined, biofeedback and visualization can help women with Raynaud's to warm up their fingers and toes without drugs, says Richard Surwit, Ph.D., professor and vice-chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

"Raynaud's occurs when body temperature drops and blood flow slows," explains Dr. Surwit. "So if you learn to raise finger temperature and increase blood flow voluntarily, you'll be able to prevent the spasms." And biofeedback uses special equipment, in an office setting, to help you control body sensations.

To get set for biofeedback, you wrap a monitor around one finger, then watch a liquid-crystal display change color. The colors change as your hand gets warmer. "Each square of color on the band represents a different temperature," says Dr. Surwit. So you learn how to concentrate on making your hand warmer while watching the results. (To locate a biofeedback instructor who can teach you this technique, see page 65.)

Once you begin using biofeedback, you'll be able to treat Raynaud's yourself using self-statements and visualization. Here's how.

Find a warm spot. Set aside a few minutes of quiet time in a warm room, with no distractions.

Concentrate on hand-warming images. Visualize yourself holding a warm rock or immersing your hands in warm water.

Talk your hands warm. Say to yourself, "My hands are getting warmer" or "My hands are getting heavier."

If you practice this routine regularly at home, you should be able to follow the same sequence to warm your hands when you're actually exposed to cold. If your Raynaud's acts up when you get into your car on a cold winter morning, for instance, begin the self-statements and visualization as soon as you head for the car. Or start doing it whenever you have to take your gloves off, suggests Dr. Surwit.

He says this technique has two advantages for women with Raynaud's. First, you don't have to rely on vasodilating drugs. These drugs relax the blood vessels but can lower blood pressure--which is especially problematic for women, who tend to have lower blood pressure than men, says Dr. Surwit. "Second, you can use this technique only when needed, instead of taking a drug daily for a problem that occurs occasionally."

Vitamins for Warmer Hands

Taking vitamins can end the deep freeze for some women with Raynaud's, says Alan Gaby, M.D., professor of therapeutic nutrition at Bastyr University of Naturopathic Medicine in Seattle. Here's how.

Start with a little E. To help circulation, Dr. Gaby recommends taking between 400 and 1,200 international units of vitamin E a day. Talk with your doctor before taking amounts of more than 600 international units.

Go easy with niacin. Dr. Gaby also recommends up to 2,000 milligrams a day of niacin, a B-complex vitamin known for its ability to dilate blood vessels. But don't take doses higher than 100 milligrams without medical supervision, since niacin can cause liver damage in high doses.

The Hydrotherapy-Aromatherapy Rescue

A warm bath spiked with essential oils can warm your heart and hands, says Paul Petit, D.C., certified chiropractic sports physician, aromatherapist and naturopath in Poway, California. Sitting in a warm (not hot) bath helps increase circulation to the extremities, he says.

To maximize the healing power of a bath, put essential oils such as birch, cypress, rosemary and savory into the mix, suggests Dr. Petit. But you need to dilute the oils in milk, stirring well, or the oils will simply float on top of the water and irritate your skin. He suggests mixing one-sixth ounce of combined essential oils with one cup milk.