T'ai Chi and Raynaud's: A Patient's Story

Raynaud's Disease and Raynaud's Phenomenon, or cold fingers and toes, are annoying conditions that seem to plague women more than men. During the attack, the small vessels that supply blood to the skin in the hands, and sometimes the toes, nose, or ears constrict (go into spasm and become very narrow, restricting circulation to that area). The result is numbness and a pale or bluish tint.

I can recall "grossing out" my elementary school friends by showing them my waxy white fingers. The condition disappeared when I entered high school, but now that I am AARP eligible, it's back with a vengeance.

I asked the doctor about it, and he advised me to avoid getting my hands cold in the first place. He told me to wear gloves to take something out of the freezer, wear mittens outdoors when it's cold and so forth. But my fingers turn a corpse-like hue when I enter an air-conditioned room in the middle of the summer. I once tried wearing gloves to the grocery store to buy frozen food. The checkout clerk asked about the gloves, and suggested if I were more pious, I would not have the problem. Stress is another trigger of my problem, and I have seen my hands turn white in the heat of August.

My usual remedy was to run warm water over my hands. If I had no access to warm water, I would rub my fingers together, but this would take a long time. Then, one night while taking T'ai Chi at my local gym something happened that surprised me and everyone there. I was under a lot of stress at the time and my fingers looked like Fred Munster's (the monster on an old TV show). After a few minutes of T'ai Chi, the color visibly returned to my fingers, one by one. My teacher said she had seen the same phenomenon with a friend of hers. The friend, a scientifically oriented nurse, had the same problem that I do. Although the nurse was sure it would not work, She agreed to assume the "standing meditation stance." To do this, the knees are slightly bent, the shoulders are relaxed, the elbows are higher at the wrist, and the hands are slightly rounded. She was surprised to find color return to her hands.

T'ai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art that is usually practiced at a slower, more thoughtful pace for its health benefits. These include better breathing, balance and flexibility. With its graceful movements and the poetic names for these movements ("grasp the swallow's tail, fair lady works the shuttle, cloud-hands"), it is an increasingly popular offering in health clubs, community colleges and senior centers. I find T'ai Chi most helpful for my symptoms if I practice it regularly.

Most people have Raynaud's independently of other conditions. However other individuals may have Raynaud's as a consequence of other diseases such a scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Smoking, other arterial diseases, and some medicines can also lead to this condition. Therefore, Raynaud's patients should check with their doctor to assure that no other disease is present first. But if you want to try to control the symptoms, you may want to "grasp the swallow's tail."

About the Author: Evelyn Doyle Harris lives in Crofton, Maryland where she enjoys T'ai Chi and tries to keep her fingers warm.

Editor's note: While there are many claims about the power of T'ai Chi, there are no large scientific studies to support a benefit for Raynaud's Phenomenon or Raynaud's Disease.