UKC

A friend of mine is off to around 7000m this winter. Unfortunatly he suffers from Raynaud's disease. Are there any people on here who have it and any advise?

Cheers, Rich

In reply to RicheyPen:

You may find something here;
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/info/search.php?forum=0&dates=1&na...

In reply to RicheyPen:

I suggest he talks to his doctor about this as it doesn't sound like a brilliant idea given that at that altitude the vasospasm will be worse, oxygen tension will be lower and his blood will be be hyperviscous so the risk of losing digits to frostbite would be significantly increased.

In reply to AlastairB:
P.S. Not to say he shouldn't do it just that he needs to go through it in detail so he is aware of the changing risks.

In reply to RicheyPen:

I find that if I keep my hands relatively warm (pretty obvious), but also be careful to avoid sudden changes in temperature I can sometimes get away with it. Usually I'm affected when I'm not expecting it as its not cold, rather than in winter. Unfortunately I have not done anything at altitude, but my attitude would be to be aware of it and take precautions, but not to make it a big deal. I find that if I go out in winter without going over the top to try and stop it, I don't notice it.

In reply to RicheyPen:

I work outdoors all year with it, have only found it to be a problem when I have a sudden change of temp, this has only really happened in summer when a route/climb moves from a sunny face to belay in a gully or the shade.

Have found as long as I can maintain a constant core temp; I don't have a problem with my hands or fingers getting too cold, have been up tp 6000m without even contemplating Raynaud's disease being a problem or it being an issue on the trip.

In reply to RicheyPen: Keep hands warm at all times, keep gloves on all time, wear helly henson type gloves under big gloves, so big gloves can be removed briefly for fiddly tasks, do not expose naked fingers to the cold, windchill will make Raynauds kick in Fast! This worked for me upto 4ooom

In reply to Fiskavaig: This worked for me on Aconcagua, Cotopaxi, Elbrus ++. When I do this I have ended up having fewer problems with cold than persons without raynauds'

In reply to RicheyPen:

www.rbhdesigns.com might help your friend.

Also read this article: http://www.rbhdesigns.com/feature/23/i-have-raynaudsfor-the-first-time-i-fo...

Hope that helps.

In reply to RicheyPen:

I'm a sufferer and work outdoors all the time (and have been to 5,600m once and over 4,000m many times). As well as all the obvious things, I always keep one of those gel handwarmer type things with me in case I am really struggling, and always keep a pair of Buffalo mitts (weigh nothing but are very warm) in a pocket ready to slip on if the gloves I choose to wear aren't doing the job (this is good anyway as it's always advisable on big trips to have some spare gloves). It's worth buying them a bit large as they can be gits to get on with damp hands.