Obstacle Mud Runner - issue 08

What is Raynaud’s? Your fingers, toes, ears or even your nose turns white/ blue/purple. (although not always) Named after a French physician Maurice Raynaud in 1862. It is thought to affect up to 10 million people in the UK. There are 2 types. Primary and secondary. Primary is usually mild, secondary is caused by another condition, more than likely an autoimmune disease such as Lupus. See your GP for clarification. How? Being exposed to cold temperatures is the cause of the reaction if you’re a sufferer, it doesn’t even have to be extreme cold. Some people are affected simply from opening the fridge. Other causes are thought to be stress or anxiety. Fingers and toes are most commonly affected but it can also extend to your ears and nose. The blood vessels, nerves and your brain detect a change in temperature and automatically constrict the blood flow to the extremities to protect the vital organs of your inner body and keep them warm. It is this lack of blood flow that causes the skins normal colour to fade. Severe cases means that blood flow can become so restricted that the skin around the fingers and toes actually dies from lack of oxygen and nutrients leading to further complications. The Cure It is thought to be incurable so it must be well managed. Prevention The key, once you know you have it, is to prevent severe bouts. Plan well ahead for times you may encounter an episode. For some, it means you can’t even go to a fridge or freezer without gloves. Imagine those winter races now! How would you cope? The best advice here is to try not to get too cold. Our advice is: n Wear layers. n Wear a hat and gloves. (Neoprene for winter races) n Keep hand warmers on you during the race and a couple of fresh pairs for after. A pair for your hands and a pair for your feet. n Do a really good warm up to get the blood flowing. n Get out of your wet and cold kit as soon as possible. n Do arm circles and anything that will get your blood circulating better. n Stress and anxiety can also be a trigger so avoid that whenever possible. (Easier said than done in real life) n Avoid caffeine and smoking as both these constrict blood flow. n Regular massages may encourage a healthy flow, it can certainly do no harm. n Try to avoid being really fatigued. n Exercise. The symptoms are hard to avoid if you are a sufferer but it shouldn’t stop you doing what you enjoy. Just plan ahead and be well prepared for an episode. It’s worth investing in some really good gloves for those cold races, we recommend a flask of hot water and a hot water bottle, plus another flask with your favourite beverage for when you have finished too. Think you might have it? Do your fingers or toes turn white or blue when you get cold? Do you lose the feeling in them and it takes ages to get the colour back? If you suspect you do, see your GP, they can perform a simple test to detect whether you have or not. For more advice you may want to look at www.nhs.uk and search Raynaud’s. Raynaud’s Phenomenon Are you a sufferer? How severe is yours? obstaclemudrunner.co.uk 24 HEALTH : TRAINING does the cold affect you like this... 24 ForEliteAtheletes toFunRunners We spoke to Holly Jones @ Urban Obstacle Gym “I have my dad to thank for my Raynaud’s as he also suffers badly in his fingers and hands. He got to the point of nearly losing his thumb because of the lack of blood getting to it after a day spent canoeing on the river Dart. I suffer with my fingers and they turn a lovely yellow/white colour – they get called my Simpson hands. It can feel pretty painful and especially once they start to warm up, it turns into sore pins and needles which can take a while to clear.I am very grateful to have heated seats in the car. Once they start to feel normal they go back to a healthy colour, usually one finger at a time and I tend to always get left with one finger which takes longer than all the rest to warm up. It can affect my grip in OCR races but that’s if I let them get that cold, to help prevent them getting really bad, I make sure I keep moving my fingers and get the blood flowing – simply wiggling my fingers helps. Opening an outdoor gym in the winter season was clearly the best thing to do to help the condition.” @urbanobstaclegym Wrap up, warm up and enjoy the winter turning into spring. By Holly Jones