Hiking is a great way to get outdoors and exercise, having been proven to burn more calories and provide more physical and mental benefits than walking. You may have experienced swollen hands while hiking and wondered: why do my hands swell when I hike?
Hands swell when hiking because exercise increases blood flow to your muscles and organs, reducing the blood flow to your hands. This causes the blood vessels in your hands to react by opening wider, allowing more blood in and resulting in swollen hands.
This is a form of exercise induced edema, which is not serious and will resolve itself soon after you’re finished hiking.
We’ll cover swollen hands from hiking and what to do about it further in depth below.
Why Do Hands Swell When Hiking?
Exercise-Induced Edema Causes Your Hands To Swell While Hiking
Hiking is a great form of exercise and works both your aerobic (cardio) and anaerobic (muscle) systems.
When you activate these systems, each requires blood. Cardio work in hiking activates your lungs and heart, and muscle work activates your lower body muscle groups used in hiking like your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
Because these systems are requiring more blood, that transfers blood away from your extremities, including your hands.
When the blood vessels in your hands notice they’re not getting as much blood as usual, they react by opening wider to let more blood in, and when that blood gets there, there’s more of it than usual, causing swollen hands from hiking.
On top of that, your vascular system is also working to cool the body down from the heat generated by hiking, and it does that by releasing more fluid to your fingers, hands, and feet.
When that blood reaches the skin to help cool the body down, fluids can leak out of the vessels causing swelling that way too.
In addition, gravity is also working against you by helping fluids to stay pooled in your hands and feet as you hike.
Hyponatremia And Electrolyte Imbalances Can Cause Swollen Hiking Hands
Hyponatremia is rarely the cause of why your hands swell during hiking, but is a more serious condition that should be looked out for.
This condition is related to taking in too many fluids which lowers the amount of sodium in your bloodstream.
When sodium levels are diluted in the body due to excessive fluids and when combined with a lot of sweating, this can lead to too much sodium leaving your body.
Signs of hyponatremia include nausea, swollen hands, cramps, and fatigue.
Some hikers will keep salt packets, mustard packets, or sodium and electrolyte tablets in their hiking backpack as an easy way to ensure their sodium levels stay up and prevent hyponatremia if the signs present themselves.
Other Factors On Why Your Hands Swell When Hiking
Altitude
Exposure to high altitudes can cause swelling in your arms, legs, and face and are symptoms of pulmonary edema.
Pulmonary edema occurs when water begins to pool inside the lungs because your lungs are unable to handle the difference in pressure outside versus inside them.
Most hiking trails will not be at altitudes where pulmonary edema is a concern, but you should take notice as it is a dangerous condition.
Humidity
You’ll notice that your hands swell as you hike more easily during higher humidity.
This is due to your skin not being able to evaporate the internal fluids as easily due to the air’s humidity.
There’s not much you can do about mother nature, so just take note that you can likely expect that your hands and fingers will swell a little more while hiking in humid weather.
Salty Foods
Salty foods and high sodium levels cause our cells to pull in water to balance the water to salt ratio (some arthritis medications can do this too).
Take note of the foods you eat before hiking and the snacks you pack for your time on the trail and try to avoid excessively salty choices.
Cold Weather
Cold weather does the same thing as exercise-induced edema does: when your hands are cold, the blood vessels constrict, which causes them to lose fluid.
This loss of fluid causes the vessels to open wider than usual, and when your hands warm up an excess of fluid rushes in, causing swelling.
How To Prevent Hands Swelling From Hiking
Use Trekking Poles
Holding on to trekking poles engages your muscles in your hand which helps with blood flow and results in less swelling.
Additionally your arms are at a more elevated position when using trekking poles rather than being down at your sides.
This elevated position helps to reduce swelling hands when hiking as well.
Remove Your Jewelry
Jewelry like rings, bracelets, and wristbands can limit the blood flow in your hands and can actually trap fluids in there, exacerbating your swollen hands from hiking.
We recommend taking off all hand jewelry prior to hiking and either loosening your watch wristband or wearing it higher on your forearm while on the trail.
Stay Hydrated
It’s important to stay hydrated when hiking, so make sure you’re taking in the proper kind and amount of fluids (nothing carbonated, caffeinated, or sugary).
Check out our guide on the best way to carry water while hiking for some easy ways to stay hydrated.
What To Do When Your Hands Swell While Hiking
Elevate Your Arms
Bring your arms above your head every few minutes. The elevation will allow the excess fluids in your hands to drain back down, reducing the swelling.
Squeeze Your Fists
Balling your hands into fists and squeezing them every so often activates your hand muscles, promoting circulation and lowering the swelling in hands during hiking.
Lighten Your Load
If your hiking backpack is heavy, the straps could be reducing the blood flow from your veins back into your heart, trapping it in your extremities, making it the cause of your hands swelling when hiking.
Try to lighten the backpack’s load or loosen the straps.
Take A Break
Taking breaks on the trail is necessary for anyone, but can also help a good bit to reduce swelling in hands when hiking.
Try resting for 10 minutes (ideally with your hands and feet elevated).
The break in the action should lower your body temp, resulting in your muscles needing less blood and returning your overall fluid balance closer to normal.
Cool Yourself Down
As we covered earlier, heat in the body is a primary cause of exercise-induced edema which is what causes most cases of swollen hiking hands.
Find a cool place to rest or cool your hands off in a (clean) body of water like a creek or stream to stave off the swelling.
Check Your Sodium Intake
As we talked about early, if you eat too much salty food that will cause swelling because your cells take in more water to balance out the salt content.
Alternatively, if you drink too many fluids and don’t have enough electrolytes or sodium in your system, your hands can swell from that, too (it’s called hyponatremia).
Keep an eye on both of these as you hike to keep swollen hands when hiking at bay.
Swollen Hands From Hiking: Wrapping Things Up
We’ve covered the primary reason why your hands swell while hiking, as well as some ways to prevent it and some tips to combat those swollen hands if they start to give you trouble out on the trail.
Have any extra tips for dealing with swelling hands during hikes? Let us know in the comments below.