login
Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM
-
No new posts
 2008-10-22 1:30 PM |
Regular  98 |  Subject: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIMI have no idea what i am doing wrong here and I could really use some help! It seems like every long race I do my hands/forearms get incredibly swollen and stiff. I know/think this has something to do with salt/electrolyte imbalances but I am not sure how to fix it. I ran a marathon 2 weeks ago in Hartford and my fingers were completely swollen by mile 6. I felt great throughout the race but it still happened. I was drinking half water/gatorade, spaced out 5 GU packs and had about 2/3 enduralytes (sp?) every hour. I thought that would be ok considering the weather was 50-65 degrees during the race. It also happened earlier this fall at Duke HIM when it was over 95 degrees! During that race i was drinking plenty of water, Sustained Energy by Hammer, gu and 6/7 enduralytes per hour. My fingers still were huge! I've never had any cramping problems during any of my races. Have any of you had this problem? Or do you know how to fix them? |
| 2008-10-22 1:37 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Master 2009  Charlotte, NC | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM I have this problem in marathons all the time so I am curious to see the responses. |
| 2008-10-22 1:38 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Cycling Guru 15134  Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM 5 gels an hour or over the whole event? You do not need to take any sort of salt tabs if you are taking gels and drinking GA in any fashion. My guess is excess salt causing you to retain fluids to counteract the increased salinity in your system. |
| 2008-10-22 1:47 PM in reply to: #1759504 |
Regular 98 | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM Sorry, i meant 5 through the entire thing, not per hour. The marathon took 3:52 so a little more than one an hour. In term so gatorade it was about 1 gatorade for every 2 cups of water. And by cups i mean the 1/4 of a cup they fill up at the aid stations so take the measurments with a grain of salt. I am a big sweater so I usually try to take more salt than others. My first HIM i had to get hooked up to an IV after not really thinking about salt/water balance (I was 17, not entirely my fault, right?) |
| 2008-10-22 1:59 PM in reply to: #1759544 |
Sensei Sin City | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM I always suffer from a little swelling/bloating of my fingers while on a long run. I figured it had to do with the heat and general physical exhertion. May be worth a trip to the doc if it's REALLY swollen and stiff as mentioned. |
| 2008-10-22 2:06 PM in reply to: #1759584 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM Well, that is not excessive intake then in my opinion. Was it warm out? The body is not a very efficient engine and most of your energy is lost as heat. When it is hot, things expand. But excessive swelling may be a sign of something else and it may be worth a call to a sports med. doc. to see what they think? |
| 2008-10-22 2:13 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM Where are you holding your hands with respect to your heart? My wife walks marathons, at one point was the local walking coach for Team in Training. In her training, she was told that carrying your hands too low could result in bloated hands/fingers. Edited by the bear 2008-10-22 2:14 PM |
| 2008-10-22 2:14 PM in reply to: #1759584 |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM Aikidoman - 2008-10-22 1:59 PM May be worth a trip to the doc if it's REALLY swollen and stiff as mentioned. On the commercials they say longer than four hours you should see a doctor.
Oops, wrong appendage!
|
| 2008-10-22 2:14 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Extreme Veteran 622 Fulton | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM I'm interested in the replies as well. My fingers always swell on long runs/marathons. I just thought it comes with the territory... |
| 2008-10-23 4:45 AM in reply to: #1759482 |
Master 2665 The Whites, New Hampshire | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM It's just the way some of us work. Our cardio system is working elsewhere and not working as efficiently where it isn't needed - that means our hands and lower arms. This happens to me all the time when running and hiking. Solution: carry something in your hands. Those squishy stress balls are good if they don't get slippery with sweat. The handheld bottles would likely work, since you can stretch your fingers as well (haven't tried those, just guessing). I started using hiking poles for this reason, and it did the trick. I carry my GPS (a handheld version, not a wristwatch model) and a counter thing on my runs, and have had no problems. The way it was explained to me was that simply holding something keeps the blood flowing around in that area, thus reducing the pooling effect. Though some subscribe to the hands higher than or close to the heart, that never worked for or made a difference for me. Besides, in order to really work, it would seem your elbows would also have to be above your heart as well, and that is impractical and uncomfortable. |
| 2008-10-23 10:23 AM in reply to: #1759482 |
| Extreme Veteran 495 Bluffton, SC | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM I spoke with the makers of Enduralytes and they told me to take up to 1 tablet per 50Lb’s of body weight per hour. So a 150 Lb person would take up to 3 tabs per hour. In my experimenting this is about what need to perform with a high sweat rate however it does not take into consideration the salts in other items such as Gatorade and gels. The guy also told me the excess intake of Enduralytes will cause swelling of the hands and to drink plenty of water and you will pee it out in no time. Personally I think 5 gels is a bit extreme for a 4 hour marathon (if you are also drinking sports drinks) but that’s just me and I race Clydesdale so assume to take in more nutrients then a featherweight. For me a 4 hour marathon in 60 degree weather I would take 2 gels and 6 tabs over the race plus whatever they had at the aid stations to drink. Keep in mind you are fully loaded prior to running so you don’t need much to complete the race. |
| 2008-10-23 12:53 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Champion 5312 Calgary | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM This happens to me all the time, I thought it was normal. Then I discovered enduralytes/gel/water. I think you might just have to mess around with your dosage. Maybe you are drinkning too much? |
| 2008-10-23 1:02 PM in reply to: #1759482 |
Runner | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM I'm willing to bet it's your salt intake. Ditch the salt tablets, you can probably do without them. |
| 2010-11-08 2:27 AM in reply to: #1759482 |
| 1 | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM Yes is true, I'd just finished NYC Marathon today, and that combination with Gatorade and GU's gave the same scary swollen hands. I wouldn't try that deadly combination ever again, my performance was diminished substantially. |
| 2010-11-08 3:29 AM in reply to: #1759482 |
Veteran 693 Indianapolis | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM This is a very common problem and, according to the Mayo Clinic, has no identifiable cause. I leans more towards hyponatremia than dehydration as a causality mode. Don't associate salt with cramping. There is no scientific evidence to prove it. Having said that there is nothing wrong with taking it. Personally I take 13 tabs/marathon or 1 every 'even' mile marker and that works great for me. If it were an IM I would take 15-16 on the bike. So you aren't overdoing it on the salt. Jamie |
| 2010-11-08 11:54 AM in reply to: #1759482 |
| Lafayette, CO | Subject: RE: Swollen fingers during marathon/HIM This appears to be an old thread that got bumped but I'm going to post to it anyhow as I had (past tense) this problem on long runs. I had one long run in particular where my hands/forearms got so swollen that they were going back and forth between numb and if I tried to swing them normally when I ran it was extremely painful. It was so bad that when I came through the finish a kid handed me a bottle of water and my finisher's mug. I had to cradle it with both hands to hold onto it long enough to get to a curb and set it down. Along with a multitude of other things that didn't go right that day (pacing, heat etc) I realized I had to do something or I wouldn't survive the half marathon I was training for. I switched to a 1 mile run/1 minute walk program and made myself during that walk period shake my arms out and then would hold them over my head for 10-20 seconds. I also made a conscious effort to relax my shoulders/neck. And, I would squeeze a gel pack in my hands gently on occasion. If I didn't have a gel then just clench and unclench the fists. The combination of all of these things meant that I've not battled swollen painful hands since. |
|
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK