You have very cold feet. What do you do about it?

November 15, 2022 9:52 AM

My feet get really cold in winter, no matter what I wear. I assume this is because my ultra-efficient capillaries cut off circulation to protect my core, because my feet are just literally cold to the touch. You also have this problem and yet you keep your feet warm. How?

My doctor does not think this is a medical problem, I have normal capillary refill in general, etc. But my feet get so cold it hurts, even when the rest of me is warm. They have been like this since I spent a winter in a largely unheated space twenty years ago.

If I'm under the blankets, they very slowly warm up over several hours and stay warm, but if it's at all chilly in a room, even multiple pairs of heavy wool socks don't keep them warm when I'm sitting, and if it's actually below freezing, they are cold in boots and boot socks even if I am moving around. Once they get cold, they don't warm up unless I am in bed under the blankets - they just feel icy and painful.

So anyway. What do you use to solve this problem? Note that the issue is that my feet generate little heat, not that the heat is escaping through insufficient sockage.

posted by Frowner to Health & Fitness (44 answers total)

What works for me is finding ways to actively warm my feet (and hands, in my case) as needed, like running warm water over them in the tub, hot water bottles, space heater pointed at feet, chemical warmers. Friction works some for re-heating, but not great. Paying attention to when they start feeling a little cold and wiggling my toes or moving around to generate extra warmth. Paying more attention to when I start to get cold and taking action then has been the biggest help.

Keeping your core warm is supposed to help, although I'm sitting indoors in a puffy vest lightly overheating and my feet are still cold.
posted by momus_window at 9:58 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have the same problem. I do think the wool socks help. They aren't enough, but they keep my feet from getting clammy, which would make it worse.

Other than that, I have various warmers. I have a heated blanket at the foot of my bed that covers my lower legs and feet, but not my torso. On a lower setting it will warm up the blankets enough to keep the chill away without overheating me. I have a hot water bottle that I will sometimes fill up and stick under the blankets too.

I have a space heater specifically aimed at my lower legs and feet when I'm at my desk. I've also tried a heated foot rest, which was great but didn't quite work for my space. I'd suggest looking at those if you work at a desk a lot.

These are not particularly helpful if you're up and moving around, but at least for me, my feet are less likely to get so terribly cold when I'm active so it's not as much of a problem then.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:07 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Have you ever tried or can you wear a hat?
I do think there is truth to the adage “the quickest way to warm up your feet is to put on a hat.”

Otherwise also agree that warming them/your body up with an external heating source and then putting wool socks etc on to trap the generated heat can help.
posted by subwaytiles at 10:07 AM on November 15, 2022

I use a heated mattress pad before I get into bed so that my feet are warm under the covers and warm up from their iciness as quickly as possible when I get in.

Have you tried those chemical heater packets inside your socks, or between sock layers? I have only use them as hand warmers but they definitely spit out heat.
posted by janell at 10:08 AM on November 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

Ooh I relate to this and it sucks. Have you heard of Raynaud's. I've found that what works for me is contact heat, NOT ambient heat. So, baths, hot water bottles, heated blankets. Putting my feet near a radiator or wearing lots of socks does very little. Regardless, the warming up process is verrry slow. There's a tipping point though, at both the “I'm getting too cold here” direction and the “I'm warming up now” direction. Essentially if I've gone past that point and gotten chilled to the core (or I've warmed up to a certain degree) the rest is fairly rapid. Takes a long time to get there though!
posted by iamkimiam at 10:08 AM on November 15, 2022 [14 favorites]

If you spend a lot of time at a desk, maybe an under-the-table foot warmer like this or this?

A wfh friend of mine has this and swears by it for getting her through deeply annoying stretches of her working day.
posted by joyceanmachine at 10:08 AM on November 15, 2022

IANAD and you should get checked out for Raynaud's, but some concrete, cheap, non-medical suggestions:

Hot water bottles at your feet wherever possible.

Heated Rug Pads elsewhere.
posted by caek at 10:10 AM on November 15, 2022

Heated foot rest if I am sitting still. Hot water bottle near my feet in bed to warm them faster when I first go to bed. These socks in bed. When it is really cold, I have been known to wear sock liners next to my skin, then alpaca wool socks, then the "bed" socks I linked (in a big enough size to layer, and then shearling slippers, but really, the heated foot rest helps so much.

(I will note that my cold feet have improved a bit since I started taking thyroid medication. My thyroid levels were borderline low, on a level that a lot of doctors would not treat it, but I was having some other issues so we tried thyroid medication and it did help with my issues. A nice bonus was in also not feeling quite so cold as previously.)
posted by gudrun at 10:12 AM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

I bought a foot warmer pocket for use at home. It's great.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:17 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Since my feet don't get warm on their own, I warm them up from an external heat source like a bath or heated mattress pad before putting on thick wool socks to keep the heat in. This will usually last most of the day.

If I have to go out into the cold where the heat will be leeched back out, I use the chemical heaters you put in the toes of your boots.
posted by Jacqueline at 10:25 AM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

What about electric socks?
posted by leslies at 10:41 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Look into what they wear outdoors on their feet in the coldest parts of the world. One of the things people can do for Reynauds is eat something to get their blood sugar up, like a carrot or an apple.
posted by aniola at 10:53 AM on November 15, 2022

My feet get cold so quickly on cold evenings. It's not quite what you are talking about, but a few ideas:

1. For the couch, even a small electric blanket that you drape over your feet only might really help. I bought one for working from home during the pandemic because my office never got quite warm enough for me to be comfortable, and it worked great til it broke (if I replace it, I'll get a better quality one).

2. Agree about trying to keep other parts of you warmer - wear a cap, fingerless gloves, that sort of thing. A friend of mine told me she could never keep her hands warm on her bike until she started wearing a vest. This is actually a bigger picture strategy that is really worth experimenting with.

3. Keep some of those disposable chemical heaters around, but also look into reusable small hand warmers. I made some like this but used the tops of old wool socks that were too beat up to wear anymore. I'm not a sewist at all and just did it by hand. You can also buy reusable handwarmers. In either case, you warm them up in the microwave for 30-60 seconds and they last maybe 15-20 minutes, enough to help take a chill off.

4. Get a heating pad you can use on the couch.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:56 AM on November 15, 2022

A space heater pointed at the feet keeps me reasonably warm during workdays, and a blanket tucked around my feet when I'm relaxing at home. In pre-WFH days, for particularly cold commutes I used to have a few of those stick-on single-use foot warmers meant for hunters that I would stick on before going out to catch the bus.
posted by Stacey at 11:00 AM on November 15, 2022

I'm sitting here with my feet getting cold and thought of something else: I really need to have shoes or something between my socks and the floor/air to keep my feet warm in the first place, especially at home on wood floors. Instead of padding around in multiple layers of wool socks, have you tried getting some insulated slippers or good house shoes? Something wintery with more of a barrier between the bottom of your foot and the floor. Wear them with socks - maybe with slightly lighter wool socks - and see if that does the trick. Wearing any kind of actual shoe with socks keeps my feet much warmer than socks only, no matter how warm the socks.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:19 AM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

I got myself a warming foot massager for when I'm sitting at my desk. Makes a huge difference.
posted by bleep at 11:25 AM on November 15, 2022

Electric blanket. I have one for the couch, one for the foot of the bed. Bonus, the cats LOVE napping on them. I take off my wool socks when I nestle my feet in the electric blankets, though I keep the socks under the blanket as well. I think my feet warm up quicker without the socks and the bonus is that I have warm socks to put on when I get up!

I should look into hot water bottles. I use a flour sack filled with a couple of cups of uncooked rice as a heating pad when I have cramps/stomach issues and have used it occasionally to warm up my feet.
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:27 AM on November 15, 2022

In addition to external heat sources, long underwear is helpful. Keeping legs extra warm makes it easier for feet to warm up.
posted by metasarah at 12:06 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

At night soak your feet in hot water and ginger tea bags (you can top up the hot water with a electric kettle or other warmed water). This will improve your circulation and also decrease edema.
posted by mutt.cyberspace at 12:17 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Cold resistance training, although it is a quite an undertaking!
posted by lloquat at 12:37 PM on November 15, 2022

I have some leg warmers that I use religiously in the winter, but the biggest thing is wearing shoes when my feet are touching the floor - for some reason, socks didn't keep me insulated enough from the cold floor, but the thick soles of an old pair of nikes keep my feet pretty warm. (As an aside, I once temped my feet with an infrared thermometer and they were in the 60 degree range, when the ambient temperature in the room was closer to 70 degrees. I have no idea how that's even possible.)
posted by little king trashmouth at 12:51 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

even when the rest of me is warm ... If I'm under the blankets, they very slowly warm up over several hours and stay warm

Adding to momus_window's comment: It's possible that the rest of you is warm, but not warm enough. A simple test would be to add a significant amount of clothing - jacket, warmer pants, hat - in a situation in which your feet are cold but your torso is comfortable, and see if your get feet warmer without making the rest of your body uncomfortably hot.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:01 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

YMMV of course, but I've noticed that my extremities tend to be warmer after doing cardio. In addition, I believe that regular use of a steam room/ sauna ... helped things somewhat (back when I had regular access to them).
posted by oceano at 1:52 PM on November 15, 2022

I have the same problem, and I even live in a temperate climate. During winter months my feet can stay cold for half the night, even with wool socks and tons of blankets. Nth-ing hot water bottle as the most efficient way to warm feet and keep them warm. During winter months I use one under my desk during the day as needed, and in bed.
posted by amusebuche at 1:55 PM on November 15, 2022

I find I have to wear two layers of socks - a thin pair of heat tech socks from Uniqlo and then thicker woollen socks on top. Shoes or slippers on top if I’m really cold. Knee high heat tech socks or heat tech leggings can also help keep my legs warmer which helps keep my feet warm too.
posted by poxandplague at 2:12 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I use a hot water bottle filled from the hot tap and it warms my wool sock-shod feet and keeps them warm when I'm at my desk or in bed. The Japanese metal ones hold more water, so stay hot longer, but the rubber ones are pleasantly squishy. A metal scout canteen, metal or plastic water bottle will work, too.

You might have Reynaud's or have had frostnip, causing damage thiat might improve over time.

Warm feet help me get to sleep a lot faster.
posted by theora55 at 2:42 PM on November 15, 2022

Silk sock liners under wool or cashmere socks.
posted by jgirl at 2:55 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Finally something in my realm of expertise! This is an entirely solved problem, IMO, since I am the proud owner of two pairs of "hut booties" used by people who do cold-weather camping. See: here

I gave a pair to my ~85 year old grandpa a few years back, and was awarded with the "best Christmas present ever" title in return. Good luck!
posted by arxeef at 4:41 PM on November 15, 2022 [6 favorites]

I can't improve on the suggestions here other than to second gudrun's experience:

(I will note that my cold feet have improved a bit since I started taking thyroid medication. My thyroid levels were borderline low, on a level that a lot of doctors would not treat it, but I was having some other issues so we tried thyroid medication and it did help with my issues. A nice bonus was in also not feeling quite so cold as previously.)

I also had borderline low thyroid levels per blood tests, and my toes were constantly freezing to the point that I would have to soak them in hot water even during the summer. Finding a doctor who would treat my hypothyroid greatly improved the condition.
posted by Preserver at 5:25 PM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Do you eat enough? I notice when I’m cutting back calories I’m colder and when I eat extra I am quite warm.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:23 PM on November 15, 2022

Don’t let them cool off. Hot shower in the am, socks with slipper-socks over will keep them warm all day, much warmer than 2 layers of wool. And make sure your footwear isn’t too tight, it’ll cut down on circulation. Buy the slipper-socks a couple sizes bigger than you’d usually wear. In the evening the get a double or quadruple folded blanket over top. At night, a quadruple folded blanket on top of regular blankets, with a heat pad underneath (set to auto shut off).
posted by Ookseer at 6:48 PM on November 15, 2022

Socks don't help me much. I wear fur-lined moccasins at home for slippers. My Crocs are also surprisingly warm, even going barefoot in them, but again mostly for around the house.

I use a heating pad in bed to keep my feet toasty in colder weather. Otherwise they would never warm up under the covers.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:54 PM on November 15, 2022

Sometimes I warm my feet with a hairdryer before bed, then carefully and very briefly so the hairdryer doesn't overheat I put it way under the covers where my feet will be.
posted by serena15221 at 8:31 PM on November 15, 2022

Speaking of Raynaud's, I just want to add that Adderall can make it much worse due to how it impacts circulation. So, on the off chance you're taking that medication you might want to check with your doctor about it.
posted by crunchy potato at 8:46 PM on November 15, 2022

Socks don't really help my feet stay warm. I wear these Costco shearling slippers all day long, without socks, and my feet rarely get cold anymore. On the odd occasion when they do, I put an electric blanket on my feet and legs until they warm up; it just takes a few minutes. I'll keep it on if I'm sitting or lying down because it's cozy and cheaper than running the heater.

Doing calf raises for a couple of minutes also warms my feet right up and the effect lasts quite a while. If you can get in the habit of doing them a few times throughout the day, you'll notice your circulation improving, and your feet won't get cold as often.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 9:06 PM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Nthing on Raynauds. A lot of doctors seem to know nothing about it, the few that do often think it’s no big deal, and even fewer than that seem to know that for some people a low dose of amlodipine during the cold months only is very effective. You can ask your doctor whether that’s an option to try - it’s a cheap drug.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 9:26 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Exercising your feet could help. Chances are you use essentially none of the muscles in your feet any more and stopped using them when you were a child.

The easiest exercise that most people can do is to stand on the balls of their feet, raise their heels off the ground and then lower. If you can do it on a level surface you move to a slightly harder exercise by doing this on a step with your heels off the step. Hold the handrail and lower your heels below the balls of your feet. Raise a lower below the level and above a few times.

Another exercise is to lift your big toe without lifting the others, and then lift your smaller toes while keeping your big toe on the ground. The master class is to raise each one of your toes without raising any of the others.

Raising your toes is relatively easy because when you walk your toes are forced upward with every step, so you have probably retained quite a bit of flexibility in that one direction. But what you really want to do is to get back the ability to fold your toes underneath, to curl them.

Put a lightweight piece of cloth on the floor, and stand on it with your heel off the fabric and the ball of your foot barely on it. Use your toes to pull the fabric towards you so that you pleat it underneath your toes.

If there is a beach, try digging holes in the ground with your toes.

Spread your toes. Fan them out so that the spaces are visible between them. If you look at the foot of someone who has never worn shoes there is a space between each toe and the next, often almost as wide as the smallest toe. Healthy feet can spread their toes. You might find that you need to hold your big toe so as to have something to pull against so you can spread them.

Stand a pencil can on the floor with half a dozen pencils in it and one by one remove each of the pencils using only your toes to grip them.

When you are in the bath turn the taps on and off using your toes. This works better with old fashioned taps than the big knobs sort. In the evening use your toes to take your socks off.

Walk a few steps with your weight only on the outer sides of your feet and then only on the inner sides of your feet, then both on the left side of your feet, then with your weight only on the right side of your feet. Walk a few steps with your toes lifted. Then walk with your toes down trying to lift the centre of your foot so the arch makes as little contact as possible with the ground.

Sitting down, without moving your heel more than you have to write your name on the ground, tracing the letters with your left big toe and then do it with your right foot, tracing the letters with your write big toe. You can also try sensory exercises like closing your eyes and running your feet over a few items and trying to figure out by feel which is which and moving the objects around - for example a terry cloth washcloth, a sock, and a plastic bag. Use your toes to put them in a pile, with the plastic bag on top, the sock in the middle and the washcloth underneath and then change the order so the bag is on the bottom, the wash cloth in the middle and the sock on the top.

Walk on hills as if you were going around them, not up or down, but sideways. Your foot muscles will have to adapt to the slope and will come into play when to keep you balanced. Go up and down unstable hills - carefully and without taking risks, of course. Use the muscles of your feet to keep your foot as the ground slips under you and each new step gives under you in a different way or slants, or isn't level the same way. Walking on hills and non level or unstable ground is a useful for preventing falls in later life. A lot of the reason older people have so much problem with falls is that they have just spent sixty-five years only walking of flat and level surfaces, floors and paved streets and sidewalks. That's not at all natural. Your feet and body were designed to walk on slanted, lumpy surfaces.

Doing these exercises should increase the amount of blood flowing in the muscles of your feet so your circulation improves; They are also useful to warm them up. They are more effective than massaging your feet to get the circulation moving, and a few of them can be done while you are at work at your desk or riding in a vehicle. If your feet get cold when you are riding the bus, some of them can be done during the ride, either while strap hanging or seated.

You should only ever wear socks that you can easily wiggle your toes inside, and there should be room to move them inside your shoes and boots. If there isn't, your circulation is being restricted by your socks and your footwear. There is a not insubstantial chance the root problem is a combination of wearing too tight shoes and socks and not actually moving your feet for hours at a time.

I am another one who recommends actually wearing enough slippers and socks and using a foot warmer.

If you use a hot water bottle in bed, put it into the bed forty-five minutes before you crawl into the bed so that the heat has a chance to spread around.

You can use a hair dryer or an iron to warm up your bed too, but don't use the steam setting on the iron. It has to be a dry heat.

If you are cold when you are in bed and it is not just your feet, try covering your head by wearing a loose knitted cap or draping a hand towel sized piece of cloth over your head, if the cap still feels too confining.
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:19 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

On being diagnosed with Raynauds I was prescribed Nitro-Bid, nitroglycerin to be cautiously rubbed on the toes. I think it helps, probably.
posted by clew at 10:23 PM on November 15, 2022

I dropped by to mention Raynaud's, too. It's something I've always had, so I get you!

Hot tea helps, from the inside out. Thick socks and shoes, meh... those never really helped me. The best thing I find is to just keep moving. Move as much as you can. On really rough days, those microwavable heating pads or Hot Hands packets can do wonders.

I empathize with the physical pain that coldness causes you. It's so hard to explain it to others sometimes, but it's a real thing.
posted by chatelaine at 12:04 AM on November 16, 2022

I use these things. I only use them in the winters when I walk the dog for a couple of hours. Since they're a bit pricey for daily use, and since I only use for a couple of hours, I only use one side of the adhesive to stick them to the top of my socks before putting on boots, and then when I get back I remove them and put them in a small ziploc bag, getting out as much air as possible, and then reuse them the next day with the remaining side of adhesive.
They are instant contact heat and maybe not the best long term solution for you, but you can use them sporadically to get the chill out
posted by newpotato at 12:23 AM on November 16, 2022

We use microwave heated bean bags like this. Heat it up and put your sock-covered feet on it.

By spring, I am really tired of standing in front of the microwave for 2 minutes at a time.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:11 AM on November 16, 2022

Seconding arxeef's suggestion of camp booties!

I use a heating pad or hot water bottle in bed, but no socks are warm enough for me at night, and I can't sleep when my feet are stuck cold -- booties are the only things that work.
posted by icebergs at 12:03 PM on November 16, 2022

I have a heating pad on my footrest when I'm working at my desk.
posted by kristi at 4:39 PM on November 16, 2022

I started wearing merino wool socks and that helped me a lot. They insulate warmth and wick moisture, which helped because my feet sweat a lot as well. I got mine from Nordic Wools though im sure you can find them in a lot of stores.
posted by seypes at 11:00 AM on April 20, 2023