I was hoping you great exercisers might have an answer for me. I have been walking about 3.5 miles every other day and have gradually added distance and am speeding up! It has made all the difference in the world to my weight loss and how I feel. I can get up to just over 5 miles now.

On my longer walks, my hands get terribly swollen up. I hardly recognize my own hands. They look white and swell up horribly. The last time it did this, it was so uncomfortable that I had to take off my watch. When I get back to my car and drive home, it seems to disappear very rapidly.

Do you have any ideas about what would cause this? I don't notice swelling anywhere else. I drink water before I go and always have water on my hikes.

Thanks so much

Orchid

Hi Orchid - I don't know the cause, but I had that problem as well. Then I went to an orientation for a walkathon (60 km 2 day walk for Breast Cancer!!!) that I'm going to be participating in, in September, and the lady mentioned that if your hands swell, which is apparently quite common when doing long walks, that you should carry a water bottle in each hand - just holding something is supposed to help. It's funny because that made me realize that when my hands swelled, it was just the hand that I didn't hold the dog's leash with, because I always took my dog on my walks. So maybe try that - and I'd love to know the cause from anyone else out there!

Have a great day,
Aj

Here is some thoughts from a very experienced walker/trainer (Wendy Bumgardner) Check both the causes and prevention:

http://walking.about.com/cs/med/a/swollenhands.htm

A short quote from the link - echoing AJ-s advice:
Carry a walking stick and switch hands.
Carry a small piece of foam tied to the wrist to grip from time to time, or a map or flashlight or a small stick or rubber ball.

My own experience? When I first saw my swollen hands (during running) I was scared. Having relatives with serious heart condition - swollen hands seemed a bad sign. But there was no any sign of swelling on my ankles, legs. Then consulting with some fellow walker/runner, and reading a couple of advices on runner/walker sites I calmed down. I accepted it. Despite of all the caution sometimes it seems unavoidable. But it always disappears so fast.

Take care, and good luck for both of you to your training:-)

P.S.: AJ I am looking forward to hear your experiences on leg skin care. Taking care of your legs during long summer walk in summer time - that IS the big challenge :-)))

Eva

Wow it was great to see Wendy Baumgardner quoted-I forgot she was doing the website thing. She was a leader in the Oregon Volkswalkers organization. I remember see lost a lot of weight when she started power walking.
We used to pick up a rock or a stick if hands started swelling. Edema from heat, hands held at side. You can always finish your walk with your hands held above your head but people might think you are trying to surrender.

I have never met her, but from the website it seems she is not only a great walker, instructor but definitely a great web site moderator/host too.