Warm Hands and Feet

Cold hands, warm heart? Perhaps, but more often cold hands means poor circulation which can contribute to hypertension, vascular headaches (migraine headaches), Raynaud's syndrome also known as Raynaud's Phenomenon and Raynauds Disease.

Migraine Headaches, Raynauds Disease or Raynaud's Syndrome are how some respond to stress, i.e. vascular constrictions of the extremities. Raynaud's Phenomenon is named for the man who identified the condition. Specific relaxation techniques improve the chances of those suffering from migraine headaches and Raynaud's Syndrome to help reduce and sometimes eliminate the symptoms.  

Migraine Headaches can be brought on by any number of stressors, i.e., allergy to peanuts, hard liquor, catsup, chocolate, and so on. Or the stressor could be bright lights or some emotional stressor. Tiny blood vessels in the arterial system, arterioles) begin to constrict reducing blood flow to the extremities (part of the fight/flight autonomic nervous system. 

At some point, there becomes a conflict between vasopressin and serotonin (both hormones) in an attempt to balance things and the inability to balance results in often a blinding headache without warning behind the eye (migraine headache). 

Raynauds syndrome is an affliction of the vasculature in that blood flow is reduced to the extremities to such a degree that the fingers and or toes can turn blue. In rare cases, the blood flow can be so constricted as to starve the cells in the extremities and result in gangrene which may require amputation of a finger, toe or limb. Sufferers from Raynauds disease often move to warm climates to reduce the impact of the disease. 

In addition to medical treatment, for both Migraine Headaches and Raynauds disease, biofeedback treatment is very important so that self regulation can be achieved. The client learns relaxation techniques to improve circulation to all of the extremities. 

Upgrading this program which was originally on cassette has provided the opportunity to add several new tracks. Up until this improvement, the Learn to Relax and the Neck and Shoulder programs were required prerequisites to working with this program--not that they won't help or may not later be useful. Tracks which include breathing and muscle awareness exercises to enhance the value of the particular stress management technique have been added to this program. Autogenic (a form of self hypnosis) training is used to enhance blood flow to your hands and feet which is why it's been called the "warm mittens" recording.