to ask if there is anything I can do about chilblains?

[mmack]

I've done everything I can think of but my toes are totally covered in them. I have to be outside for a while every day but I'm in thermals from head to toe. I'm wearing good hiking boots and thermal socks every day. I'm taking a Vitamin B supplement. We have a wood stove so the house is reasonably warm all the time. If anyone has any advice I'd be very grateful.

I used to suffer terribly from these when I was wee. I was told there is a connection with poor circulation and they did seem to be worse when I was growing out of shoes.
I tried everything to ease the symptoms and the only thing I found that worked was heating my toes up at a fire/radiator until it got almost painful and then rubbing them vigourously and repeating until it wasn't itchy or painful any more.

The important thing with chilblains is not to heat your feet up too quickly after they've got cold. That's what does the damage. Of course, if you can avoid your feet getting cold in the first place that would be better!

Do your feet feel cold when you're outside? If so, I'd add a thermal insole for your boots.

I really feel the cold, particularly hands and feet. The only time my legs and feet are toasty, is when the rest of me is a little too warm. A proper wool jumper helps enormously with this. And many layers!

I suffered from them when I was a child, then I didn't have them for years. Now I am knocking on 50 they have come back with a vengeance - I get them on my fingers as well as my toes.

I was told pissing on them would cure them..... Not tried that ......yet!

Nope, nothing.

Keep warm, wear tights and don't go from cold to hot too quickly.

Feel for you!

Balmosa cream is the only thing that helps mine! I suffer really badly from chilblains and I find the best way to calm them down is massaging in a load of balmosa cream and then getting in the bath - the hot water hurts your toes at first but the relief afterwards is amazing.

I buy mine at boots, but you might need to preorder some - I can't recommend it enough.

When I was a teenager I suffered terribly from chilblains and could not bend my toes from September to about May each year. I was given some sort of pills to speed up my circulation which sort of worked. Then I had children and got fat and haven't suffered since - still get cold toes but not in the same league. So go and eat biscuits!

Buy some CalcPhos No 2 tablets - these work brilliantly.

They are hard to find, sometimes I can only get them at Amazon, but they are worth every penny.

Got them here last time - recommended by another MNr

www.elixirhealth.co.uk/New-Era-Tissue-Salts.asp

I'm suffering at the moment and have been for a couple of weeks now.

I've been wearing tights, socks, thermal socks and leg warmers which has helped a lot. I wouldn't warm them on a radiator as that can be really painful.

It's horrible but the best thing you can do is keep your feet as warm as possible.

Do you wear slippers inside? I suffered with chilblains last year but this year I bought slippers with a hard sole and I haven't had any this winter.

If you are getting them because your feet are getting cold despite what you are currently wearing, then suggest you consider the battery powered heated insoles that ski shops sell. Might be worth a try.

I suffered for years with chilblains, but touch wood not for about 5 years, and I worked outside . I did find that not having tight socks/boots was really important. So I actually wore really good walking boots, a size too big, with a very thick sole, then there was enough room for a thermal innersole, and thick all wool socks as well, not thermal. Just make sure you can easily wiggle your toes - circulation is all important.

www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=heated+insoles&tag=mh0a9-21&index=aps&hvadid=3171128474&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_4y0s3922gn_e

I find it is better to west two pairs of socks. Two thin layers is better insulation than a thick pair of socks. i also suggest you wear socks in bed. I also wear a good pair of gloves and a hat that covers my ears.

I had them terribly as a student. Too much time freezing at bus stops.

I was chatting to an elderly lady at the bus stop and moaning about my chilblains. She told me to get some Tiger Balm from the chemist and rub it in.

Worked a treat. Make sure you're boots aren't too tight fitting.

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You only get them if the tissue is cold so you need to keep yourself warmer. Slippers indoors, socks in bed and keep as warm as you can

Sudocrem cured mine years ago when I was working in a place that had a marble floor.

I suffer with Reynolds syndrome so get chilblanes with that too. It's painful, I had some stuff over the counter last year, but I've run out and can't remember the name! It worked within days.
The trick is definitely a constant temperature. Don't warm them up quickly and if your socks get wet change them immediately.

Thanks for all the replies. I ordered some Akileine cream from amazon today and I'll look out for Tiger Balm. The heated insoles look lovely but very pricey. I always wear 2 pairs of socks and my buy my boots and wellies big enough to contain the extra layers so I don't think that's a problem.
The weird thing for me is that my fingers often go white and numb and then sting like crazy when the circulation returns but I never get chilblains on them. I never notice that my toes feel numb during the day but new little chilblains pop up constantly and itch like mad when I'm trying to get to sleep.

mmack Google Reynolds, your fingers sound like you suffer as well

The socks and gloves on the Reynolds site are well worth investing in

Reynauds

Ah yes helps if I spell it properly