Hi Guys,
We all have our own 'cooling methods' for flaring . Many of us actively minimise triggers and make specific lifestyle changes, too.
What cool tips do you have?
God bless
mads
Tips- Soak cotton sheet/pillow case in cold water, wring out well , and wrap around yourself or affected limb. Position yourself under a fan- full on. Sweat evaporation process is hindered by dampness - retains coolness by 70%.
Tips- Immersion therapy - short/quick cold baths (few minutes). Add pinch of Epson salts for transdermal magnesium intake.
Lifestyle changes- bare feet/flip flops (even in winter), No spicy food/stimulants such as caffeine. Vitamins/supplement intake - B's, Omega 3, Vit C/zinc, Iron.
My top tip. Go to the freezer and open it, then take a long time to get the icecream out. Hold the tub in your hands for a while then eat your fill, taking as long as you can for maximum cooling. If there is any icecream left (why?) take your time loading it back into the freezer. Coffee ice cream works best.
It’s all that hot air at the G20 raising Brisbane’s temperature.
I swear icecream helps but only in conjunction with walking on cold tiles or cool grass.
In Summer I use Magicool or other freeze spray but if I am already flaring it feels like I’ve been shot.
Wet cloths, refrigerated flip flops and wheat bags and of course fans, even hand held ones directed at one flaring ear can help.
I strip off once it is late enough to be sure no one will come calling and wear just a short silky dressing gown.
I spend most of my time in a room I try to keep at or below 20 °C. That helps.
When I'm sitting or lying at home I apply a little water to my bare feet, and let the evaporation take away some of the heat. It makes it harder for them to heat up. It's quite convenient because you can do it with your feet elevated and you can keep a little water beside you so you don't have to keep fetching ice packs or anything from the fridge.
If they heat up anyway and get out of control, my current strategy is to take myself to the shower, poke my legs in through the doors, take the shower head in my hand and spray my knees, shins and feet with cold water. I do that until the water stops feeling cold, and I can't feel the tingle of anything trying to flare inside. I like this method because you can do it with your feet elevated, which seems to help. I can get quite a few flares back under control this way, though not all.
I haven't tried eating ice cream at the same time, but I'm thinking this method is probably ice cream compatible if you can do it with one hand.
I also tried putting my feet in cold water when my EM first started, but my feet blew up like inflated gloves, so I had to cut it out. Either that or widen all the doorways. :)
I’m trying to picture the activity with the legs in the shower. Are you sitting on the floor with your legs in the shower Mick? Or standing and showering one leg at a time? Sitting would go better with ice cream but you would be too far from the shower controls I imagine. There’s nothing easy where an EM flare is concerned. I’m glad you gave up putting your feet in cold water as I quickly discovered that it isn’t a good thing to do."
Hi Nel,
I have a stool that I sit on at the shower's doorway. Then I put both legs in together, with my feet up on the opposite wall.
I should probably mention that the water here isn't icy cold this time of year. I don't know if it's possible to overdo the cooling this way, but if I stick to water over 10 °C I should be safe.
I wouldn't have thought it was a problem Mick. No different to taking several cool showers a day which I can do in summer as my whole self overheats. Silly thing is I would not soak my feet for 30 minutes in cool water but am quite happy to swim/exercise in a pretty cool pool at the gym with a shower before and after.
I think ice cream should fix just about anything! If it doesn’t no loss you had ice cream!
My main line of defense is air conditioning my I keep my house around 60f and this helps with most flares if I am not trying to move around too much. Once one begins I use fans or chilli pads or both together. I also love the Chillow. These are heavy so they are hard to carry around but very effective! If my face I use one of those cooling masks for reducing puffiness. TIle floors are great and for your hands holding a metal aerosol can is strangely effective!
I flare worst in the winter, as soon as I'm compelled by weather to abandon sandals, so I'm steeling myself for the worst, as Chicagoland windchills are approaching 0F (-18C) tonight.
My fave cooling method is the frozen rice sock. I keep a couple in the freezer at all times. They emanate a very gentle cooling which never feels harsh or painful.
HI folks.
Recently, I discovered a wonderful product (see link below). It's an adjustable laptop cooling product that I use to keep my feet cool. It has two fans--one for each foot. I use it on the floor underneath my desk to rest my feet on while I'm keyboarding at work. It doesn't dry out my feet as much as a regular fan. And if my feet are not flared it will keep them cool for several hours. It's pretty sturdy, but I think I will support the raised position (about 10" high) with a piece of wood to help it deal with the weight of my feet. It only helps if the ambient air isn't too hot, but it's great to get elevation and coolness together along with the right position for keyboarding without strain on back or wrists. It really does a great job cooling a hot laptop. It's perfect for using a laptop on your lap for those of you who have EM in your upper legs, etc.
Keep cool, Dragica
http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Folding-Notebook-Cooling-Adjustable/dp/B00EP48NMY
Hi Nel -
Just a TIP on Ice Cream - Please be careful with any Ice cream as it has some form of GUM Thickener in it and the Gum Thickener is usually made from some form SEAWEED and that was in the listing of things I had written about a few weeks back that cause tremendous FLARES with me ... Food Additive : 400, 401 & 407 ... Sodium Alginate of some form which is also called Carrigeenan - Please do some tests with Ice Cream to see if it causes flares .....
Cheers and Take care ...
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW
Nel said:
My top tip. Go to the freezer and open it, then take a long time to get the icecream out. Hold the tub in your hands for a while then eat your fill, taking as long as you can for maximum cooling. If there is any icecream left (why?) take your time loading it back into the freezer. Coffee ice cream works best.
My biggest problem is late evenings and during the night. *Natra Cure* from Amazon helps me to keep my feet cool under a blanket. There is a frozen gel pack on the bottom and one on top. They are removable of course.
Oh frostbite.
;(
Nel
frostbite said:
Hi Nel -
Just a TIP on Ice Cream - Please be careful with any Ice cream as it has some form of GUM Thickener in it and the Gum Thickener is usually made from some form SEAWEED and that was in the listing of things I had written about a few weeks back that cause tremendous FLARES with me ... Food Additive : 400, 401 & 407 ... Sodium Alginate of some form which is also called Carrigeenan - Please do some tests with Ice Cream to see if it causes flares .....
Cheers and Take care ...
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW
Nel said:My top tip. Go to the freezer and open it, then take a long time to get the icecream out. Hold the tub in your hands for a while then eat your fill, taking as long as you can for maximum cooling. If there is any icecream left (why?) take your time loading it back into the freezer. Coffee ice cream works best.
Sorry to be a party pooper Nel .... I know how hard it is to not buy that lovely cool yummy ice cream but if it causes you enough grief you will learn to leave it alone .... :-) cheers, frosty ...
Nel said:
Oh frostbite.
;(
Nel
frostbite said:Hi Nel -
Just a TIP on Ice Cream - Please be careful with any Ice cream as it has some form of GUM Thickener in it and the Gum Thickener is usually made from some form SEAWEED and that was in the listing of things I had written about a few weeks back that cause tremendous FLARES with me ... Food Additive : 400, 401 & 407 ... Sodium Alginate of some form which is also called Carrigeenan - Please do some tests with Ice Cream to see if it causes flares .....
Cheers and Take care ...
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW
Nel said:My top tip. Go to the freezer and open it, then take a long time to get the icecream out. Hold the tub in your hands for a while then eat your fill, taking as long as you can for maximum cooling. If there is any icecream left (why?) take your time loading it back into the freezer. Coffee ice cream works best.
HI again, folks.
I have some concerns about any cooling method that causes rapid cooling. Blood vessels that are constantly being distended past their normal capacity and then rapidly constricted are in danger of injury in the long run. When using cool water soak (with plastic bags around my feet), I start with tepid water. When my feet have adjusted to that, I decrease the temp slightly until I've adjusted and so on. This method takes slightly longer but there is no pain or feeling of shock. And I have found that my flare will stop, but I don't get any rebound later on. I believe that gradual cooling is much safer and less likely to cause discomfort.
Dragica
Hi Dragica -
Yes I am living proof that a cold foot soak can cause skin maceration which is no good for the feet - I now have to deal with the issues it has caused - but thankfully it isn't too bad - I stopped doing the cold foot soaks and now trying to look after my feet a lot more - I have to as I don't relish the thought of losing either or both of them ... that would be the end of me !!!
Please, people, do really try and learn from the experiences of other people's misfortunes - it will save you from un-necessary and unwanted grief further down the road ....
Take care ALL -
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW
Dear Greg,
You are right and we need reminding that danger lurks in our simplest pleasures. I seem to be lucky insofar as only spicy or hot, temperature-wise, foods cause me flares but we do need to be wary and read those ingredients. The thickening agent in the lemon ice-cream in my freezer is locust bean gum but I admit to not having looked until now.
Nel
frostbite said:
Sorry to be a party pooper Nel .... I know how hard it is to not buy that lovely cool yummy ice cream but if it causes you enough grief you will learn to leave it alone .... :-) cheers, frosty ...
Nel said:Oh frostbite.
;(
Nel
frostbite said:Hi Nel -
Just a TIP on Ice Cream - Please be careful with any Ice cream as it has some form of GUM Thickener in it and the Gum Thickener is usually made from some form SEAWEED and that was in the listing of things I had written about a few weeks back that cause tremendous FLARES with me ... Food Additive : 400, 401 & 407 ... Sodium Alginate of some form which is also called Carrigeenan - Please do some tests with Ice Cream to see if it causes flares .....
Cheers and Take care ...
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW
Nel said:My top tip. Go to the freezer and open it, then take a long time to get the icecream out. Hold the tub in your hands for a while then eat your fill, taking as long as you can for maximum cooling. If there is any icecream left (why?) take your time loading it back into the freezer. Coffee ice cream works best.
Greg,
Sorry you've had such troubles. I have had problems with skin breakdown because of fan use. It causes dryness (especially in a cold climate) even though I use a very high quality skin cream (it really helps--called Lipikar--from Posay-LaRoche pharmaceuticals).
Cheers, Dragica
frostbite said:
Hi Dragica -
Yes I am living proof that a cold foot soak can cause skin maceration which is no good for the feet - I now have to deal with the issues it has caused - but thankfully it isn't too bad - I stopped doing the cold foot soaks and now trying to look after my feet a lot more - I have to as I don't relish the thought of losing either or both of them ... that would be the end of me !!!
Please, people, do really try and learn from the experiences of other people's misfortunes - it will save you from un-necessary and unwanted grief further down the road ....
Take care ALL -
Greg - frostbite
COOMA NSW