7 Ways to Treat Cold Hands and Feet This Winter
If you’re like me, the onset of winter weather brings you two things: frizzy hair and ice-cold extremities. And while I haven’t figured out how to tame the frizz just yet, I have found a few ways to warm up my frozen hands and feet and improve overall blood circulation. Use a few of these tips to ward off the chill next time you’re feeling a bit frosty!
1. Put on another layer – This may seem obvious, but many people opt to crank up the heat indoors before they don a sweater. The reason this doesn’t always work is because the warm air moves to the higher parts of a room, while the cold air stays low to the ground where your frozen little toes spend their time. Wear an extra sweater and a pair of slippers if your normal attire isn’t keeping you warm enough.
2. Eat or drink something warm – You’d be surprised what a cup of tea or a warm bowl of soup can do to warm your body. It starts in your tummy and the warmer blood slowly moves throughout the rest of you, heating you up as it goes.
3. Eat foods that generate heat – The heat you feel in your mouth is no joke. Spicy foods will increase the temperature of your entire body. If you’re not into hot peppers and salsa, try root vegetables like carrots and beets. The amount of energy your body expends to digest them can also create heat from within.
4. Get moving – Nothing increases blood flow and warms you up like a good workout. Even just 5 minutes of pushups, jumping jacks, and jogging in place will warm you up enough to make you comfortable. Not fond of the word “exercise?” Try cleaning the house instead!
5. Take a hot bath or shower – It might take a few minutes to feel the full effects, but you can’t go wrong with a relaxing bit of tub time. Be careful when you first get in, as your colder parts will be sensitive to the heat. Start with a more tepid temperature, then slowly increase it as your body adjusts.
6. Get a massage – whether you do it yourself or someone else does it for you (it’s pretty obvious which would be more awesome), a foot and hand massage or a full-body massage will increase circulation and heat. It’s a big bonus if you can find someone with warm hands to massage you!
7. Snuggle – find someone warm and just do it. A dog, a cat, a boyfriend, a child, a parent, a friend. As long as they’re warm. Extra points if you can find a fuzzy blanket and a fireplace to snuggle by!
Kayla Lilly is a photographer, writer, wife, and mama making a house a home in eastern Idaho. She met her mister while working at an amusement park and married him a year later after deciding there was no way to live without him. The amusement has continued as they’ve added three kids and a passel of pets to their lives while finishing college and starting a photography business. Drawing inspiration from the whirlwinds of marriage, parenthood, and the media, Kayla blogs at Utterly Inexperienced, and spends the rest of her time chasing chickens, organizing junk drawers, diapering toddlers, and photographing everyone willing to step in front of her lens.
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