You might suffer from chilblains or Raynaud’s phenomena on your toes causing cold, pain, and a purple or red color. Untreated it can lead to pain, wounds and even the loss of part or all of the toe. Here are some easy things to do to keep your feet warmer especially during the winter. Raynaud’s condition is a vasospastic condition where the little muscles in your blood vessels are constricting keeping blood from flowing through the small capillaries in your feet and fingers. Cold is the main trigger of vasospasm.
- Wear warm socks made of a natural fiber such as llama, alpaca, or wool.
- Use chemically warmed inserts for your shoes such as hot hands for feet from Amazon. Each insole lasts for 9 hours. Do not put them directly on the skin but wear a sock between the insole and the foot.
- Use rechargeable electric socks which can be as cheap as $27.00 per pair from Amazon
- Avoid bare feet on cold surfaces
- Rest your feet on a warm hot water bottle – not hot. Beware of causing damage to the feet if the hot water bottle is too hot. Wear socks when you use it, and you could even use some thin shoes at the same time
- Put a warm heating pad on your lower back which can often cause an increase in warmth of the feet and legs. Do not fall asleep on the heating pad and do not use too high a setting to avoid burns
- Put a heating pad on the floor so you can rest your feet on it to warm them up. Do not put your feet directly on the heating pad but use socks. You can even keep your shoes on when you rest on the heating pad. Beware of causing damage on your feet from a heating pad that is too hot.
- Occasionally you might want to have me put some local anesthesia in your toes or feet to cause dramatic warming of the tissues which increases healing from wounds.
- I can give you a prescription for nitroglycerin cream or paste. To use this, you put on about 1/4 inch onto your finger and rub it into the toes and forefoot of the infected foot. This will be two 1/4 inches for both feet or- 1/2 inch. This is the prescription product and will need to be called into pharmacy
- There is an oral medication called an Alpha blocker which helps to open the blood vessels. I would prefer that you went to your family doctor to for a prescription for Nifedipine.
- The condition is called Raynaud’s and I would advise you to check each of the medications you are taking to see if a side effect could be Raynaud’s. If it is, please talk to the doctor who prescribed the medication and explain that you are having trouble with your feet including pain and possible ulceration because of the Raynaud’s condition. See if he or she can prescribe a less vasoconstricting medication
Credit: Michael Zapf, DPM