Why Is My Hand So Cold...?

The annoying things about Dystonia

by Jenn Marie

You know, I can accept my diagnosis of having a chronic potentially progressive neurological disorder. Yet, sometimes it’s the little things they don’t tell about Dystonia that get on my nerves.

For instance, why is my hand always so cold? It’s precisely that part of my Dystonia that tends to make me lose patience with the dreaded D word.

I suffer from Hemi-Dystonia, so it is always just one side of my body that is freezing. You can frequently find me with a glove on one hand, an extra sock on one foot, or the blanket covering half of me.

Why isn’t this symptom in Wikipedia? Is it even part of my Dystonia, or just a weird side effect of something else related to my Dystonia?

Better yet... how the heck do I make it stop?

The freezing hand issue has become sort of a joke in my home. Whenever my child wants to know how I feel, she grabs my right hand, then my left.

"How are you feeling today, Mommy?"

"Fine," I reply, not wanting to worry my little angel.

"No you're not! You're having Dystonia right now! Your hand is freezing!"

Then we laugh, because she caught me in yet another lie.

I feel selfish and silly to even bring up this little nuisance to my doctor. "No Doc, the spasms aren’t painful. My hand feels fatigued and it has a slight cramp and it’s freezing...” All she heard was, "blah blah aren’t painful... blah blah blah”.

I’m happy that I even walked into the Doctor's office that day! Who cares about a freezing hand? I mean, I can always sit on it.

Jennifer McKnight is a model, mother and advocate for Dystonia awareness. More about her can be found here.