We associate having cold feet with having nerves but rarely do we interpret it as actual cold feet. It happens to everyone and can get incredibly annoying when you're in bed during the winter, for both you and your partner. If you're looking for cold feet in bed solutions, this is the right place to be.
Why Your Feet Get Cold
Your cold feet can be caused by several reasons. Some are temporary while some are more persistent. In more serious cases, cold feet can be a symptom of something related to your health. If you have cold feet, one of these triggers might be why.
- Cold Temperatures
Cold temperatures are probably one of the easiest reasons to address. When your body gets cold, it preserves warmth by constricting the blood in your limbs, such as your hands and feet, leading to poor circulation.
- Poor Blood Circulation
Poor blood circulation is one of the most common causes of cold feet. Leading a sedentary lifestyle with a lack of activity can lead to poor circulation. Without proper circulation, your cells won’t receive the energy needed to produce warmth.
- Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety might just be responsible for creating everyone’s favorite idiom for nerves. Experiencing stress causes the body to release adrenaline, which makes the blood vessels constrict and tighten, decreasing blood flow to your extremities.
- Deficiencies
Anemia and other iron deficiencies could also be responsible for chilly feet. Anaemia refers to a lack of iron and red blood cells, which are responsible for delivering oxygen throughout the body, leading to poor circulation.
- Diabetes
Diabetes, whether type 1 or 2, makes people prone to cold feet. Poor circulation is another reason but it could also be diabetic neuropathy, known as diabetic nerve damage, or can be a side effect of your medication.
- Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism refers to an underactive thyroid and could be why your feet are cold. An underpowered thyroid affects hormone production, leading to lower energy levels. Energy is spent up quickly and doesn’t leave much for producing heat in your extremities.
How You Can Prevent Cold Feet
Despite the variety of things that cause cold feet, several easy home remedies help prevent it. Try out these solutions and see which remedy works best for you!
- Exercise and Movement
Keeping your body active aids blood circulation and is a very simple yet effective way to keep blood flowing. If you spend your days seated at a desk, the mere act of walking around your room, using the stairs, or stretching will help tremendously.
Staying hydrated improves the moisture levels in your skin, which are needed to regulate body temperatures. Eating iron-rich food helps feed your blood cells, while food packed with vitamin C can help iron absorption, among other things. Even switching to green tea could help!
- Wearing the Right Shoe Size
Your shoes could also play a part in your chilly feet. Wearing anything tight, especially on your feet, restricts blood flow and compromises circulation. Even if it’s your favorite pair of trainers, if you’ve outgrown it, it’s time to replace it.
Dealing with Your Cold Feet
What if prevention is out the window? If you’re unable to spare time for an activity or your diet can’t be changed, you can still work on your cold feet while you rest. Here are three things that might be able to keep your feet warm and toasty as you sleep.
- Thermal Socks
To keep your feet warm, you can’t wear just any pair of socks! They have to be made of a material that helps keep your feet dry and warm. Compression socks, dress socks, and even athletic socks aren’t good for cold feet at night, because they're lacking in warming abilities. Wool socks provide much more warmth but, that said, the best pair are ones made to battle the chill— thermal sleep socks, which keep your feet comfortable throughout the night.
For a thermal sock recommendation, try out the Heat Holders Thermal Socks which are made with insulated yarn. These socks have a 2.3 TOG rating, which is similar to the warmth of a light summer duvet. These socks are proven to be 7x warmer than average cotton socks. These are available in a variety of designs for men and women, including a slipper collection with a non-slip bottom.
- Using a Heating Pad
If wearing socks to bed isn’t something you’re comfortable with, using a heating pad for the foot of your bed is another clever solution. The danger with this is if your duvet traps the heat inside and causes the rest of your body to overheat. Nevertheless, it's still a great solution that could also be used as back or stomach pain relief.
Check out the Sweet Dreams Electric Heat Pad. This is a user-friendly mattress with six temperature settings. It heats up quickly, remains at a constant temperature, and automatically turns off after 90 minutes for your safety. By the time it shuts off, there’s a good chance you’ll be fast asleep tucked in under a warm blanket, cold feet, not an issue anymore.
- Using a Special Duvet
The duvet industry has been going through a transformation that elevates the basics we all already have. One example is of duvets made with extra warm footing, to specifically provide more warmth for cold feet. There are also electric duvets designed with settings that can focus heat on certain areas of the body, based on your desired areas, such as the feet or stomach.
One great electric blanket is the Homefront Electric Blanket with Dual Control. Let's face it, cold feet bother our partners just as much as it bothers us— maybe even more! This one can customize two different heat settings for two different sides, perfect for couples. It comes with two controllers that can target the chilly or aching parts of both your body, meaning that if all you want is extra warmth for your feet while your partner wants warmth for the hips, this helps.
Final Thoughts
After everything, it’s apparent that having cold feet is more complicated than anyone would like to think. It can be connected to deeper health concerns and isn’t as easy as just turning the heat up.
If you experience chilly feet quite often with these home remedies not working so well for you, it might be time to visit a doctor and see if there's anything more serious behind your cold feet. When your body tells you something, it's best not to ignore it.
That said, we hope this helped you learn more about your cold feet and that it brought you one warm step forward to getting rid of your cold feet.
