Warm your inner body up for cold hands and feet!

Key measure is to increase the body temperature! 

It is natural that your hands and feet getting cold due to freezing winter weather. However, if you still have cold hands and feet even in the room temperature, you should doubt Hypersensitivity in the extremities. This symptom tends to get worse in cold weather and could lead up to severe pain.

Cold hands and feet are symptom of thermal discomfort that occurs despite the warm weather or a situation where you should be warm theoretically. Such symptom may affect other issues as listed, numbness or tingling hands and feet, indigestion, menstrual irregularity etc.

Followings are 5 categories to divide patients suffering from cold hands and feet according to their major cause.

1. Patient with chronically weak digestive system suffering from cold hands and feet:

In Korean medicine, there is a saying "Bijusamal" which means digestion runs your fingers and toes. Higher numbers of a person who eat well and digests well, tend to have warm hands and feet; even tend to feel cold a little less after eating. Therefore, if you're digestive system is failing and is unable to let your "Qi"(energy) extend to the limbs, strengthening your digestive system will help warm up your hands and feet.

2. Suffering from such symptoms due to weak uterus:

There are patients visiting hospital with menstrual pain, menstrual irregularity, and infertility etc and they tend to have cold hands, feet and lower stomach. Say digestive system is an oven, and the uterus is fire below. If the fire is not strong enough, the oven would not heat up to be able to cook (indigestion), and stay cold just like your body. If you focus on keeping your uterus warm, you can tackle the coldness of hands too.

3. Weakness of energy and blood circulation:

Unlike these two cases just mentioned, if you digest fine and have no problem with uterus; but tired from overworking. The energy and blood within your body produces nutrients to where it is most needed. This therefore lets your limbs cold. If you fall in this category, it is best for you to take some rest to recover the normal balance of blood and energy circulation.
4. Warm head, cold feet typed body:

When a person has too much stress, the heat tends remain on the upper body area; your head. Meaning more than average amount of blood stays uncirculated, eventually making hands cold. In order to warm the hands up, treatments to cool the head down will help the body run blood throughout equally.

5. Lacking "Yang":

As we age, we lack yang which can be explained as heat in our bodies. When you reach this stage, male tends to suffer from diarrhea, hypogonadism, and cold hands or feet. Treatments to help your body recover from lacking yang can be the solution.

 Furthermore, even as a treatment for hypersensitivity, making your whole body warm is important rather than just focusing on heating up your hands and feet. This can be easily done in your daily life. It can be as simple as drinking hot a tea, or lower-body bathing. As to drinking hot tea, ginger tea is recommended for those with thermal discomfort and difficulty with indigestion. Korean angelica root tea is helpful for women, such as coldness of your body, menstrual irregularity. Hands and feet are deeply connected to internal organs, which also mean warm hands and feet makes energy and blood circulation lively.

Not to mention, exercising is very important. Walking or stretching regularly can bring up your body temperature by promoting blood circulation.

 When the coldness of your extremities, you should see a professional and get treated. In Korean medicine, there are treatments using acupuncture, moxibustions and herbal medicine according to cure the root cause, by changing the constitution. Moxibustion, Herbal wrapping, and Phyto steam treatment, which helps with blood circulation in the area such as uterus, digestive system is used to better the hands and feet not warming up.

Written with the help of Korean Medicine Doctor Choi Woo Jung

International Clinic Team

Kwangdong Hospital of Korean Traditional Medicine

612 Bongeunsa-ro, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea

E-Mail : english@ekwangdong.co.kr

Tel : 02-2222-4907 (Local) / 82-2-2222-4907 (Overseas)