Hands Swell When Walking

Hi All-

This is kind of strange, but ever since I was in my teens, anytime I go out walking in the heat for more than 45 min. or so usually walking at a very brisk pace, my hands tend to swell very badly to a point that it's uncomfortable. After about 30 mins of being inside and drinking lots of water they tend to go down. Anyone ever heard of this or know what may cause it? It's really annoying! Thanks All!

-Danielle

 Poor circulation or venuous constriction in the shoulder girdle perhaps? You might want to mention it to your doctor next checkup - and try pumping your arms a bit more when you walk to get the circulation up.

Low sodium levels. You need to drink an electrolyte, a sports drink before or while exercising. When people sweat they lose sodium and the extremities swell, it's normal, happens to everyone and water alone is not enough to prevent it.

This happens to me, too!  Thanks for asking the question, and thanks to the Fitness forum for providing the usual excellent responses!

That's always happened to me too, I always thought it was just the centripetal force from swinging my arms that sent the extra fluid into my hands.  It usually goes away pretty quickly if I stretch my arms and hold my hands above my head.

pick up a stone or a small stick (the size of your hand) and play with it while you walk. Moving your fingers will restore the "water weight" in your hands. I cut off a piece of a broomstick (the width of my hand), drilled a hole through it and put a cord through it and put that on my wrist when I walk. I also have a walking stick of a branch I found somewhere.

Also waterbottles and those scandinavian walking sticks (what are they called?) are very popular and will help you circulate.

Original Post by dkn:

Low sodium levels. You need to drink an electrolyte, a sports drink before or while exercising. When people sweat they lose sodium and the extremities swell, it's normal, happens to everyone and water alone is not enough to prevent it.

 I don't know that I'd go strictly with this answer as high blood pressure increases swelling and can be a part of poor circulation.  The worst thing you could do is add more salt!  I'd ask the doc.

Thanks All! I just recently went for my yearly physical and everything came out great so I'm pretty sure that dkn is correct and it's just due to low sodium levels. I will mention it to the doc next time just in case though. Thanks again guys!

I read here about low sodium levels, but the swelling of my hands happen when my body has high (too high) sodium levels. That is how I know I have overdone the sodium, my fingers turn into frankfurters, the thick kind, and especially when I am walking. It goes away when I watch my sodium intake for a couple of days.

Hey, this happened to me the other day.  It was a very hot day and I was walking at lunch.  I don't have an issue with sodium levels--I suspect that for me it was the low circulation.  I was trying to not work up too much of a sweat before going back to the office.

Thanks for the info everyone.

They recently had a segment on this on my local news.  Check this video out:  

http://www.kare11.com/video/sponsored/player_ motivation.aspx?aid=78979&storyid=521034

They say it can be related to heat/humidity, eletcrolyte imbalance (too much sodium/too little water or vice versa), or a lack of arm movement when walking.