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Cold feet causes, home remedies and prevention
contents
- Cold from the outside
- Wet feet
- Wrong shoes
- Cold feet in women
- Help and Prevention: What to do about cold feet?
- Healthy eating
- Cold feet due to illness
- nerve disorders
- Cause iron deficiency
- The vitamin B complex
- folic acid
- Inflammation and low blood pressure
Cold from the outside
This is the most common cause of cold feet, and biologically sensible. In short: we are freezing on the feet so that the brain, heart and lungs of the main veins remain warm. Our body controls the heat independently: it narrows the blood vessels, and so less warm blood gets into the hands and feet. Fingers and toes cool down faster, so we wear gloves and thick socks in winter. Cold on the outside is not without danger in the long term and in strong freezing temperatures: fingers and toes are next to the tip of the nose and ear lobes to the first parts of the body, which freeze by the blood withdrawal.
The feet cool down quickly, so many people like to wear thick wool socks in the winter. (Image: Esmeralda / fotolia.com) Wet feet
Not only cold, but also wetness can lead to cold feet. We then speak of evaporation cold. In this case, the moisture dissipates the heat to the outside, and the body reacts to it by narrowing the blood vessels.
Wet feet can cause severe discomfort, because in addition to the cold, the skin is sensitive to inflammation. In the First World War, so many soldiers died as a result of wet feet, since in the British Army since foot powder belongs to the equipment.
So, after you have run through puddles after a downpour, and your socks are soaked like soles, your feet will cool. If they are wet for longer, they feel numb - just like in dry cold weather.
Cold weather does not have to come from the outside: people with sweaty feet often have cold toes due to their own moisture.
Wrong shoes
Cold feet are thus less caused by the cold itself, but because blood vessels contract. That's why inappropriate shoes can be the cause. For example, if the socks have cuffs that squeeze the bloodstream, or if the shoes are too tight, then the blood will stop flowing.
A possible reason for cold feet are too small shoes. (Image: ivanko80 / fotolia.com) So if you're wearing too tight shoes, they're drenched, and it's freezing outside, your feet will almost certainly get cold quickly.
Cold feet in women
Women are particularly often affected. This is not due to a mental hypersensitivity, but to the female organism. The male body consists of about 40% of muscles, the female only 23%.
However, men need only a maximum of one third of their muscles for work, the rest the body has as body heat. In addition, women have less body mass on average. Again, the less body mass a person has, the more often cold feet plague him.
The female body distributes heat primarily to the central organs: The biological reason is probably to protect the fetus in the womb and the female breasts, which provide the infant with milk.
Help and Prevention: What to do about cold feet?
You can prevent the foot cold with a variety of measures.
1.) Wear warm socks. Keep the cold off your feet. The socks should be loose. Put the stockings namely the blood vessels, freeze despite thermal insulation.
2.) Do something against sweaty feet, because wetness cools the feet. If the socks have become wet through sweat, then change them. Use foot and shoe sprays, footgels and foot powders to counter perspiration. If you can not change your socks right now, for example because you are on a hike, then ventilate the shoes regularly.
With sweaty feet special sprays and foot deodorant can be a good help. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com) 3) Do not wear air-impermeable shoes, which will inevitably lead to sweaty feet. Instead, take shoes that store heat as well as let air through.
4) Soak your feet in water of about 35 degrees Celsius. Scrub them dry with a towel to stimulate blood circulation.
5) Cool your feet, then put a hot water bottle on top.
6) Gently massage your feet with your fingertips.
7) Use oils, creams and foot balm with ingredients that promote blood circulation. Suitable is for example lavender oil.
8) Season with chili, pepper or ginger. These three promote blood circulation, as well as hot tea, soups and stews.
9) Move your feet and toes. This is also possible if you are working on a laptop. Through movement the blood circulation sets in.
10) In summer, you can start the circulation by treading water. Even when the water is freezing cold, your feet will get warm because they will be better supplied with blood. In winter you can go for a short walk through the snow barefoot. Then pay attention to dry your feet thoroughly.
A few steps barefoot through the snow promote blood circulation. (Image: stcc / fotolia.com) 11) Go to the sauna regularly.
Healthy eating
1) Eat lots of green vegetables that contain vitamin B. Vitamin B is our "nerve hormone", and the nerves control the heat balance.
2) Drink a lot. The more water that flows into the organism, the better the blood can flow. Conversely, lack of fluid leads to viscous blood.
3) Reduce Alcohol: It removes water, which makes the symptoms stronger.
4) Exercise: Exercise promotes blood circulation.
5) Reduce your cigarette consumption. Nicotine narrows the vessels.
6) When you sit, put your feet side by side. Lashed legs, hooked or splayed feet cause the blood vessels to be pinched off.
Cold feet due to illness
Foot cold can be an alarm signal. Often you indicate serious illnesses. This includes a low blood pressure, because the pressure is no longer there, the limbs far away from the heart can not be sufficiently supplied.
Arteriosclerosis, an arteriosclerosis, can also be announced by cold feet. If the vessels are narrowed by deposits, the blood can not flow as before.
For example, cold feet can also be caused by nervous disorders caused by diabetes. (Image: kei907 / fotolia.com) nerve disorders
Nerves transmit signals to the brain and in turn receive "commands" from the brain. Without these nerve impulses, there is no information to let the blood flow. Nerve disorders, for example due to accidents or diabetes, therefore disturb the heat balance of the body.
Cause iron deficiency
Iron plays a vital role in health, because without the mineral, many bodily functions would work poorly. Iron deficiency is either due to the fact that we can not absorb enough of the vital trace element, can not process the existing trace element, or both.
Iron is an important component of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the body.
There are two types of iron that play a role in the human organism: on the one hand from animal sources and on the other hand from that of plant origin. The former can be absorbed more easily by the blood. Iron rich foods include beef, liver, oysters and dark leafy vegetables such as spinach.
Anemia of iron deficiency occurs when we introduce too little of the mineral with the food. Typical symptoms include chronic fatigue and fatigue, as well as cold limbs. This is because the body can not transport oxygen into the cells without iron, and without the oxygen, the energy is lacking.
There is a lot of iron in beef and green leafy vegetables. (Image: bit24 / fotolia.com) The vitamin B complex
A lack of vitamins from the B complex, as well as a lack of folic acid can lead to shivering, cold feet and hands. This is mainly because the B vitamins are involved in blood production; Vitamin B12 and folic acid are even essential for the formation of red blood cells. If blood formation does not work optimally, it results in reduced blood flow, which in turn leads to coldness in the feet.
The vitamin B complex contains eight different nutrients: Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12. The body can not store vitamins from the B complex, and the daily intake of B vitamins is necessary. Each member of the group has its own range of functions in the body, and at the same time these vitamins work together to maintain good health.
The primary role of the B complex is to keep the metabolism going, to absorb energy from the diet, and to deliver it to the body. The B vitamins provide a normal appetite, promote vision, boost the nervous system, keep the skin healthy, help digestion, promote protein utilization, support blood cell production, help the body use fats, protect against backbone defects and brain.
In addition, they help to make the genetic material and hormones, draw energy from carbohydrates and support hair growth. The group is needed to prevent beriberi, pellagra and forms of anemia resulting from a lack of B vitamins.
B vitamins are water soluble; the excess of these nutrients is largely excreted in the urine. They can have negative side effects. Consumed in large quantities, they can increase blood sugar and cause skin problems that damage the heart and liver. Overdoses of vitamin B3 can interfere with vision, cause confusion, induce nausea, and cause stomach problems.
The B-group vitamins are essential to our health, for example by promoting important metabolic processes. (Image: adragan / fotolia.com) folic acid
Vitamin B9, also called folic acid, is essential for brain function and plays a critical role in mental and emotional health. It helps to make up the genetic material of the body, and is necessary when the cells and tissues are growing rapidly, so in childhood, puberty and pregnancy. Folic acid also works closely with vitamin B12, helping to form red blood cells and allow the iron to work in the body.
Folic acid is significant in pregnancy. Pregnant women who are not getting enough of the vitamin are at risk of giving birth to children with birth defects. One study linked folic acid deficiency to autism. Accordingly, a sufficient supply of the vitamin should reduce the risk of developing diseases from the autistic spectrum.
The nutrient is naturally found in green leafy vegetables. Caution: Vitamin B9 dissolves in the water and is therefore lost quickly during cooking. The longer leafy vegetables cook, the more of the substance disappears in the cooking water. If you only blanch vegetables or steam them, you will get folic acid.
The vitamin is added to many foods today, including flour, oatmeal or cereal.
Inflammation and low blood pressure
Even inflamed vessels can affect the blood circulation and thus lead to a feeling of chill in the feet, further narrowing in the arteries, which are triggered by pressure. More serious causes of cold hands are hypothyroidism, a tumor or metastases. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)