A professional life hacker has opened up about the one trick that helps warm up her perpetually cold hands.
Chelsea Anderson (@chelseaexplainsitall) lives with Raynaud’s disease, which causes reduced blood flow to the fingers and toes. As a result, she often has ice-cold hands.
In a TikTok video with over 2.3 million views, Anderson shared a tip which she says she was shown by a professional skier.
“This is going to feel so weird to you the first time you do it, but it’s like magic,” said Anderson.
How to warm up your hands
“You stand with your elbows locked and your hands flexed up like this [with your palms face down, forming a right-angle away from your body], and shrug your shoulders up and down,” Anderson explained in the video, while demonstrating how to do it.
“You will feel it, you will feel blood shoot into your fingers – and it will warm them up, it keeps the circulation going,” she added.
Anderson added that because of Raynaud’s, her toes tend to look white from October through to April. “They are numb, they hurt,” she said. “Same with my fingers.”
“I don’t know the toe version,” she continued. “If I knew the toe version I’d be f**king unstoppable.”
People were grateful for the hack, but some claimed it didn’t work for them.
“Thanks so much for this tip. I have Raynaud’s. My fingers look like wax when I’m cold. I can’t wait to try this,” said user @kimleoorr.
“It works. Learned this in ski school,” said @slovenly65. Another commenter added: “I learned this during my military service in Finland few decades ago. We know a thing or two about winter here.”
But others weren’t so sure. “How long is it supposed to take? I feel like I’m missing something because now my neck/shoulders hurt AND my fingers are cold. Is there any other detail I missed as far as form?” asked @maverick_maiden.
There is a toe version (of sorts)
Sir David Attenborough is also reportedly a fan of the trick (or a variation of it) – and tried it out while filming in Northern Finland where it was -18C.
Executive producer Mike Gunton, who was with David at the time, explained to The Mirror: “What they do is they stand like this [goes up and down on his toes] and they hold their hands like this [at right angles to his body].
“And you go up on your tiptoes and as you do, you do this [flaps hands]. And what it does is it pumps blood in a particular way around your body, and it helps send it to the extremities to keep your fingers and your toes warm. It really works.”
He added: “David, the doctor and I were basically up to our knees in a snow drift, waiting for the drone to do a shot. And we were all getting a bit cold and the sound recordist said, ‘Do the penguin dance!’ So we did and it was great fun.”
Other ways to warm your hands up
If you don’t want to stand in the middle of your workplace shrugging your shoulders with your hands flexed, here are some other hand-warming tips to try:
- Blow warm air onto your hands
- Tuck your hands under your armpits
- Wear gloves
- Wave your arms in a circular motion
- Use hand warmers.