Arthritis and hacks in hands...advise/gloves.Please.

Cakie

Hi people,
I am new here and hoped to pick your brains !
The Osteoarthritis in my hands, especially thumbs has become much worse. Also I get hacks on the end of my thumbs in cold weather, the skin splits and is SO sore.
I thought I should get suitable gloves, maybe fingerless, to wear indoors, also at :carolers: night and under thick gloves when out.
Living in S.W. Scotland it was, with the wind chill factor, -9 degrees last night !
Advise welcome.

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you and I hope we can help. I have PsA & OA in a number of useful joints, the heat triggers my PsA (an auto-immune kind) and the cold my OA, but I clearly recall my late Ma having trouble with her skin on her thumb tips splitting wide open - she relied on Germolene and plasters to sort things out. It worked but the one thing she would not do (for tiresome reasons) was apply hand cream on a regular basis. For me hand cream is my Desert Island Discs essential.

I think one of the key elements here is to keep your hands very moisturised: if the skin isn't dry it won't split open (I speak as a veteran of severe childhood eczema). I don't know your gender (I suspect female due to your forum name) but if not it may be time to start thinking about keeping a couple of tubs of aqueous cream close at hand: it can be used for both washing and moisturising, and may help prevent the splits from happening. Neoprene gloves are warming (albeit a little bulky) but there are fingerless versions out there - topped off by something natural such as wool may also help to keep things toasty.

We are all different in what we need to do to help things, it takes time and experimentation to discover what works for us as individuals but one of the many plus-points of the forum is that you will (hopefully) get more answers and thoughts. I wish you well. DD

theresak

Hello and welcome.

I have RA rather than OA, but still have troublesome fingers and things, so when it's really cold I sometimes wear fingerless gloves in the house. I bought mine at an outdoor shop. My older son, who does a lot of climbing, got me some of the small heartland you can either fit in your gloves, or just in your pockets to wrap your hands around.

DD has made a good point about moisturizing - I keep a tube by the kitchen sink & one by the bed.

bimble

Hi Cakie!
I'm fairly new to this arthritis lark. I only have OA in my thumbs but also get aches across the backs of my hands. I got some cotton 'compression' fingerless gloves from a well known online site. They were only cheap and probably won't last but I find them quite comforting and warming. They are thin enough to get some gloves over the top.

I always have cold hands and I have Reynauds too, so have had silk glove liners for years. My dad suffered terribly with split skin on his hands and he had gloves with some kind of metallic weave which he liked.

Hope this helps a bit. It seems to me it's trial and error - what suits one person doesn't work for another.
Good luck in the frozen north!

Tia1723

I would welcome the idea of gloves for arthritic hands. You can get number of good quality hand gloves online. They are easy to wear and creates soothing warmth. Thermal heat is a well-recognised method used for improving blood flow and relieving pain. Just be careful while choosing a size, especially if you have swelling. They provide a great support but, could be painfully tight too.

If you are using any pain relieving cream, use your gloves immediately after applying medicated creams to your hands. The gloves help the cream work more effectively without losing excess cream during everyday tasks. Consider using this technique before bedtime to benefit most from medicated cream. Same goes for moisturiser. Apply loads of moisturiser to protect a skin from chilly weather and cover it with your gloves. This will help your skin keeping hydrated for longer period.

Love,Tia.