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How I deal with cold hands... (see mssg)

Posted By: MT Oldie on 2005-12-30
In Reply to: frozen fingers - bd

My hands are cold a lot of the time, too. I find that in order for my hands to be the proper temperature for typing, my body actually has to be quite warm, sometimes even a little TOO warm. Unfortunately, the Thermostate Police at work always have the temp turned down way too low. What works best for me is to go into the restroom and run hot water on my hands for a few minutes to warm them up, then I put on a pair lightweight glvoes that I cut the fintertips out of, so I can type in them. It may look funny, but it makes my hands happy!


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My hands get cold, and typing with cold muscles is like (sm)
running or other exercise when not warmed up. I wear thin, warm gloves with the fingertips cut out to keep my hands & knuckles warm. For muscle pains in the shoulders, neck, biceps, etc, try Flexall cream - I find it to be VERY effective. Also try slight changes in chair height, keyboard height and angle, and monitor height. I found if I enlarge the print on my screen, it keeps me from hunching forward to try to read it. (CTL + scroll up or down on mouse wheel to make print bigger or smaller. It will not affect the size of the finished product.) Frequent "mini-breaks" to do other chores: filing etc. if in an office, quick household task if working at home, also helps relieve repetitive stress. A few months ago I thought my typing days were numbered due to various pains & arthritis; now I can work pain-free for up to 11 hours in a day. Good luck! :)
Cold hands
Does anyone else have freezing hands as they type?  It's worse of course in the colder weather.  Are there any gloves or similar products out there that we can wear while we type?  Any ideas are appreciated!  I freeze all the time, in warm weather or cold, but my  hands are what I need to be warm to keep transcribing.  I need a space heater that doesn't cause my electric bill to go sky high, but haven't found one of those either.
My hands are always cold too.
I have seen gloves with the fingertips cut out, but do not know how comfy they would be to type with.

I sit with a heating pad on my back cause I have arthritis in my hip and when my hands get cold I just put them behind my back to warm them up.

There are also those heat packs you can squeeze or rub together to warm up your hands.

You would think after typing and typing our hands would stay warm with all this exercise, but NO.

Keep Warm.
I'd like them for when I have cold hands

wonder if they would work for that...


I have had cold hands lately
and I tried buying some little stretch gloves and cut the fingers out, but I found in the Sunday paper an add for Miracle Therapy Gloves that supposedly reflect body heat. I was going to order them and try them. They do have a web site it's called www.DreamProductsCatalog.com
cold hands
My hands get so cold in my office that it's difficult to type.  They're stiff from being cold.  Any suggestions for a type of warming glove that wouldn't be cumbersome while typing?
what I did for my cold hands

I bought a duel-headed lamp with adjustable necks (kind of like the 50's space-age atomic style).  I have it on my desk in front of the keyboard with a lamp head bent over and trained on each hand as I type.  The warmth is wonderful, and it doesn't get in my way at all.  And you can move them up a little if your hands get too warm.  No cumbersome gloves that will slow your speed and accuracy down.


I have Raynaud's, so I know all about cold hands.
Raynaud's is a fairly common circulatory problem of the capillaries of the fingers and toes. When your hands are cold, look for distal portions of digits that are white compared to the rest of the hand. Treatment for Raynaud's is keeping hands warm. Wear mittens when it is 50 degrees or below. Don't use bare hands in frozen foods.

Transcriptionists who want to protect their precious median nerves AND keep their hands warm use these gloves:

www.softflex.com

You may actually type faster with them - I do.

Another option is to keep a heating pad on your lap as you work. That's what my dad's secretary used to do in Wisconsin.
Cold hands could by a sign of anemia.
I gained weight, eat better and take a multivitamin with iron in it. Haven't had a problem in years now.
No more complaining about cold hands while working.....sm

Now I have absolutely seen it all.  Found this on accident but just look, if you suffer with cold hands these could be your answer.


I don't have Raynaud's but I always have cold hands when I type even in the summer! I keep a

heating pad under my desk.  I turn it on and sit on my lap and use it as kind of a muffler for my hands.  Every so often, I stick both hands into the sleeve that covers the pad and let them warm up.  It works really well!  I also bought a pair of cheap knit gloves, the kind that stretch to fit any hand, and I cut the fingers tips off and wear them when I type.  In the colder months when I get cold feet, I have a space heater under my desk blowing directly on my tootsies.


When I first started out as an MT, I used to laugh at all the little quirks the older MTs I worked with had and now here I am with all my different quirks and orthopedic and electrical equipment just to make my work day comfortable.  And don't even get me started on my drugs! 


What would you do next? - see mssg.

     What would you do if you were in this position?


You're in your late 50's.  You've been an MT since the mid-70s.  You work at home and even if you work 7 days a week, your income is not paying the bills anymore.  You think it's time to abandon the MT field and find something else.  You only have 2 years of college, no business or computer courses.  Going back to school at this stage of the game seems rather pointless, though is not out of the question.  But earning a Bachelor's degree in anything is going to require going back and finishing some high school courses, just to get into a college program.  So we're talking YEARS of night-school, because of course, you still have to keep working in the meantime.


One problem is that you are absolutely NOT a "people-person".  So things like nursing, sales, customer service, management, human resources, etc. are pretty much out of the question.    So what sort of field and/or education would you look into? 


It is an okay deal - TR 11 font is small. Not as good a deal as Courier.
Personally, I would have to think really hard and compare reports and line counts, like the other poster below suggested, before I would jump right into it. It is probably 75-80 characters to a line +/- the single character lines you get for initials, and 2 word lines you get with op reports such as Surgeon:
IV Fluids:
Anesthesia:
etc.

It probably is comparable to 9 cpl with a larger font.

Good luck in whatever you decide.


Good Luck!
Nobody here seems to definately know answer Thanks see mssg

Coughing and sneezing have no affect/effect on it, and bowel and bladder functions have been normal.


Lisa/MT Student (see mssg)
I don't think you would have to pay to place an ad.  See if there is a "Letters to the Editor" section.  If not, it might have to be done the way the doctors do it:  Their papers are submitted to JAMA for consideration of publication.  Even though we MTs are not doctors, it is their work that we are transcribing.  And sometimes (if we're lucky) we even get to transcribe those papers that they are submitting for publication!  I don't think there is a single doctor or medical professor out there that would want their JAMA submission, book manuscript, etc. transcribed by an ESL MT.
I knew someone who had it - was out 3 months. (no mssg)
.
(PS) - I meant "see mssg" above, not
X
A question of gift etiquette.... (see mssg.)

Okay --- tell me what you think about this odd little experience!


A friend of mine, a woman who is very well-off -- far more so than I will ever be -- over the years has routinely given me bags of her college-student daughter's clothing that she no longer wants.  Her daughter gets tired of stuff LONG before it even looks old, and I really like her particular taste in clothes.  We're pretty much the same size, too!  So I would always get this cool hand-me-down stuff to sort through, most of which I would keep.


Those I didn't keep were usually items that were a bit too small for me, usually skirts or pants.  Usually I would just take those to the Goodwill, but I have another friend that is slightly smaller than I, and also a lot poorer.  She's been unemployed much of the time I've known her, and really needed the clothes!  Since she usually shopped at the Goodwill anyway, I knew that giving her the stuff I couldn't wear would save her even more money.  That way all of my friend's daughter's clothing went to good use, and was enjoyed.  A win-win situation.  Or so I THOUGHT....


Unbeknownst to me, it turned out that the friend who gave me all these clothes could not STAND the friend that I was giving the too-small stuff to.  I didn't know this until one time when I told her how great it was that the other friend was so grateful to have the clothing that I didn't want, because then none of it had to go to the Goodwill, all went to good use, etc. etc.   WELL!  Instead she emails me and tells me that she cannot STAND my other friend, and absolutely does NOT want me to give any of the clothing I don't want to her, because she "doesn't want to see her wearing it."  (?????) 


I emailed back and said that although I respect whatever reasons she has not to like my other friend, that I DID have a problem with being told what I could or could not do with cast-off clothing that was given to me, and therefore MINE to do with as I saw fit.  I certainly didn't want to have to tell my other friend that I couldn't give her any more clothing because the person I received it from didn't like her and didn't want her to have it!  So, since we all have the same large group of friends and see each other often, I decided that I would just no longer accept used clothing from my friend's daughter anymore.  In order to try to keep the peace, I simply told her I "had no more room in my closets for any more stuff", though I'm sure she knows why I no longer want the clothes.  But, because of her control-freakishness about who wears these clothes, now both my other friend and I have lost out on a good thing.


   What's your take on that?  Don't you think that once you GIVE something to someone as a gift, that it is THEIRS to do with as they please, regardless of how you may happen to feel about it?  Does that sound odd to you? 


 


anyone watch deal or no deal?

I love Deal or No Deal.......nm

You think that's bad? I had cold
c
It gets cold in FL too...........nm

with a cold
I have listened to one sniff and blow her nose into the phone today.  
Anybody live where it's cold?
Like below 60 today.  Wish I were there.
COLD, 40s, where are you. BEAUTIFUL here in NY.
x
cold agglutinins
cold agglutinins and haptoglobin
cold feet
I bought a cheap electric heater and run it pointing towards my feet.
Cold fingers
Even though I keep my house comfortable, I find my fingers getting cold when I type.  Is it just me. Does anyone have any suggestions.
Cold in Colorado! ...
Burr is right!  I'm in northern/central Colorado, I think it is about 5 degree now with light snow ... but the wind is dying down.  Horrible hurricane type winds the last few days.  Thanks for mentioning us Coloradans!!  :)
Cold in the midwest too
I heard on the TV that Cedar Rapids (eastern IA) had temp of -17 with a wind chill of -30 this morning! BRR!
Old people who are cold?
x
cold fingers
All the time when I start out before the work area is sufficiently warmed up with the SPACE HEATER. Space heater essential to get fingers going.
How about a cold remedy?
I get great relief from colds with Zicam. (I also take 50 mg of oral zinc, which boosts the immune system). I use the Zicam when the cold is in my nose, with runny nose, sneezing, congestion. To open your sinuses you might want to try Rhinocort. You'll need a Rx for it, but it is good stuff. It's safer than Afrin (which works great but can't be used for more than three days, and can raise your BP). Oh, and chicken soup may help.

Hope you are feeling better soon.
Mine gets cold too

Not sure why just the right hand.  I have mild Raynauds though it is worse in my toes - I have to wear wool socks or slippers while I work. 


Do you have cold intolerance in your hands or feet any other time?


Yes, I do have cold intolerance
I've been tested for thyroid, but it comes back okay.  Hands always cold, but when typing the right one becomes much colder than the left, feels somewhat numbish, and painful in the wrist.  I'm going to try making a wrist warmer with rice in it to heat in the microwave to see if that helps.
Cold in California

Chance of snow tonight near Fresno.  I know this is not your kind of cold, but for us it's unusual.



aw man, it's too cold, but I'm wishing!

Cold Fingers
Try typing gloves! I have the same problem. They do help some. I also have been known to sit on a heating pad while typing -- helps warm me up.
Cold calling sm

Has anybody used cold calling to get their own accounts? If so, can you give me advice on how to go about doing this?


I'm also marketing with direct mail, etc., but would like to do some cold calling.  I heard it works.



Thanks!


my right hand goes cold

Hi - I just developed identical sympotms as you in the last week.  Especially while typing, my right hand goes cold and I have pain in the joint of my thumb and wrist.  I also have very mild swelling in the hand (no one else notices but me).  I can tell the fingers are all slightly more swollen on the right hand.  My suspicion is this is a "repetitive movement" agitation of the joints kind of like tennis elbow or something.  My plan of action - which will be very hard to accomplish - is take advil to reduce pain and swelling, and reduce movement of the hand by using my left hand instead.  If the problem continues, I may try a home made splint or something from Walgreens.  If after that, I'll go to the doctor to get a referal to someone who knows how to fix it. Please respond to this if you ever found out what your problem is.  I'm at the beginning stages and people have said, "maybe you have arthritis".  Well, I'm only 36, there's no way I'm gonna have arthritis this young, right?  Anyway, I'd like to know what others have found.


Thanks


hands down by the....

LINE!!


I am currently getting paid per report on one acct and per line on another and hands down...per line always adds up to more money.


From years of experience, there is at least one MT that will tend to skip the longer reports when being paid by the report - if this weren't the case then it might be about the same but just from years of experience it seems there is always one bad apple in the bunch that spoils it for the rest.


When being paid per line, at least when they skip reports they don't want to do - it just means more lines for me and more $$$.


Hands

Does anyone else have problems with puffy, stiff hands during the hot weather.  Never bother me in the cold but this heat kills my speed and accuracy.  Anybody have any home remedies that helps.   I feel like the Pillsbury Dough boy with regards to my fingers and hands.   Please don't tell me it is old age setting in. 


Thanks.  


Hands
I tried Glucosamine with chondtritin and it did not help with any of my aches.  But then I was told by a chiropractor to try MSM Glucosamine after I was T-boned and had terrible hip and buttock problems.  Tried 2 to 4 did not help much and gave up -- I give up easily.  But the past several months tried again at 2 twice a day and after a couple of days it helped not only with my hip but my hands have not ached all summer/fall now.  Really helped and I now take only 2 or so and not every day.  Vioxx also helped but they took that off the market.  But this helps tremendously.  But you should check to see if by chance you have Raynaud's or something in your hands or low thyroid.    Good luck.  
is there something i can use to help my hands....
to be smoother. i have been using baby powder, but have already went through 2 keyboards...is there a transcription something i can buy? also, how about my hands freezing....what can i do about that?
I am jealous. Where do u live? I WISH it were cold
s
mmmm.. it was cold chili too.
x
Mmmmmmmmmmmm..cold pizza

s/l cold a glutens and haptoglobin

Northern Arizona is cold, too
nm
One hand goes cold as ice when typing...??

My right hand goes ice cold when I type all day long.  I asked the ortho doctor about this a while back and got a dumb look in response.  Anyone have this or have any clues as to what is wrong?  That wrist has a ganglion in it.  The other hand remains normal temperature.


Thanks!


Yes - cold does kill fleas
it's called WINTER not air conditioning........ROFLMAO!  Are you for real?