Ok so today I made myself go out and do a jog walk rotation. I did pretty good I did 2.5miles in 40mins. But about 25-30mins in my hands felt swollen. This happened before and I quit jogging/walking outside for a long time. Why could be causing this and how can I avoid it. About 20 mins after the jog the swelling went away and I was back to normal. But it hurt to have my hands swollen like that. Any ideas how to avoid it or will it get better the more often I jog outside?
The same thing happens to me regardless of whether I am walking or running outside or on my treadmill. On occasion, I also have swollen ankles for a short period after walking. I consulted a Dr a few years ago and he did bloodwork and couldn't find a reason. I have heard that is has something to do with an electrolyte imbalance, which may be the case for me since I exercise on an empty stomach and drink only water.
You may try quickly squeezing your hands into a fist and releasing several times during your workout. I do it (when I can remember) and it seems to alleviate the swelling somewhat. I am definitely interested to see what others have to say about this!
Yeah when I looked it up I read something about an electolyte imbalance. Which like you said makes since. I drink water on most days. Once a month I drink some Gatorade but thats when I mow the graa out here. And thats only because strenous opposed to my normal exercise.
My doctor, a few years ago, had the brass cajones to tell me if I'd exercise more my blood vessels would expand and it wouldn't happen anymore. Ha! Ha, ha, ha! It doesn't matter if I exercise more or less, my hands and feet are going to swell. When your hands swell, do the knuckles go white while the space between gets a brighter pink? I've tried holding things in my hands, like a ball that is to be passed back and forth between my hands, doesn't matter. Even when all I'm doing is holding the pulse sensors on the elliptical, my hands still swell.
I now have an interesting other problem going on with my feet, so I'm going to be watching to see what else the talented and well informed folks around here come back with. Electrolytes, eh? Very interesting . . .
I have not walked or jogged in any cold weather. Mild to warm would be what I would call it. I tried walking during the middle of the summer out there and it did not go well. So I did my tapes inside and did not have a problem with the swelling. It only seems to happen outside. We will see what happens when I start walking in cooler temps.
When Angie and I trained for the marathon we did back in 2001, the trainers had us keep our arms up at our sides, a little less than L-shaped, with a loose fist, and place the thumb on top of the pointer finger as if you were holding a coin. It seemed to work for us, especially on those +10 mile days.
My hands swell when I walk, if I'm not holding anything (like a water bottle or dog leash). My arms are typically straight and swinging when I walk, which causes centrifugal force to drive fluid to the fingers. When I run or carry something, my arms are bent and the fluid can't get down there. There could be other issues too, but the swollen fingers might be a matter of simple physics. Try a bent arm walk, or perhaps holding/squeezing something will help your system push the fluids back up to your core. The method Gary describes should also do the trick.
Of course if the simple things don't work you might want to look into more complicated stuff, electrolytes, temperatures, etc.
Swollen hands at the end of a jog. Why?
