Chilblains on fingers driving me insane, any advice??

[UnnecessaryFennel]

Pic attached. My fingers are so swollen and itchy. It's driving me round the twist.

I've tried sudocrem, 'stop freiras' chilblain cream, Vicks vaporub (!!) I've tried taking ibuprofen and antihistamines to help reduce the swelling. Fingerless gloves make no difference. Nothing seems to help!!

My house is flipping cold and I'm too worried about the energy bills to put the heating on.

Ugh can't believe I've just posted a close-up of my scaly hands on the internet but I'm desperate

Have you got Raynaud's Syndrome? I do and have meds to help. I think (may be wrong) that Raynaud's can cause chilblain like symptoms, hence the question.

I think I might, yes. The tips of my fingers go purple and then white sometimes in the cold. My feet are pretty much the same although I find it easier to keep them warm most days. I didn't know you could take medication for it though!

speak to the pharmacist and get some cream

chilblain come from moving from extreme heat and cold

try wearing gloves to prevent your hand getting so cold - thats if it is chilblains

Speak to pharmacist or GP - they'll be able to advise if likely to be chilblains or whether Raynaulds/other is the cause of symptoms. I take meds ad hoc when needed for Raynaulds and it sorts me out (after years of pain).

Try compression fingerless gloves. They are much better than ordinary fingerless gloves at keeping hands warm.

Thanks @AnotherFuckingUsername, my GP is impossible to get to see but I could ask the pharmacist.

I've ordered a pair of those compression gloves, thanks @Cornishmumofone - never knew such a thing existed!

Roll on some warm weather, this is so bloody miserable atm.

Isn’t the olde cure to pee on chilblains for relieve them?

I would look that up and see what it is in person, ammonia perhaps, and if it can be bought, try that.

Not that I'd ever recommend taking medication advice from a stranger off the Internet BUT sildenafil (viagra) has shown to help Raynaulds - from memory there was a Dr Michael Mosley programme touching on it.

Hope you get it sorted soon - it's agony.

Isn’t the olde cure to pee on chilblains for relieve them?
yes but they've developed creams so you don't have to pee on your hands or feet

My hands were exactly the same as yours for the last few years, suffered awfully with them. Tried keeping them warm etc but the itch was awful and so painful. I went for accupuncture on my back in October abs just happened to mention it to her in passing she stuck a few needles in me and never had an issue since. It's 100% worth a try as it's down to our circulation. I can't tell you the difference.

Oooh, got to be worth a try, thanks @TUGGY2006. I really do want to tear my fingers off sometimes, so uncomfortable!

Balmosa is supposed to help - I got it for dh when he had chilblains.

I was going to suggest fingerless gloves, as religiously wearing mine inside are what keep my chilblains at bay (I wear Turtle Dove cashmere ones), but see that doesn't stop yours :-(

Make sure you aren't warming your hands up directly on heat sources (i.e. holding them to the radiator, or using those little pocket hand warmer packs), as direct heat is supposed to make chilblains worse.

You need to keep your whole body warm. If you can't keep your house heated all day, what about a plug-in oil-filled radiator in the one room you use most? And I wear my big fluffy down jacket inside if it's chilly too.

It's also good to keep your circulation going, so if you're sitting down for long periods, get up every half an hour and do some star jumps.

This is a very unlikely possibility but I suffered from chilblains every winter and was diagnosed with chilblain lupus. They went away within weeks of taking hydroxychloroquine and never came back. It was a systemic problem so no amount of creams or warmth would have helped.

If you have other unexplained symptoms then might be worth getting some autoimmune blood tests done. Raynauds is also closely linked with various autoimmune illnesses.

Raynaud's needs treatment from GP, not pharmacy (it's prescriptions and they'll need to check you over)