I recently moved to an area with a very different climate than where I have lived since my autoimmune diagnosis and my body does not seem to be handling it well! :ambivalence: I am in the process of adjusting my wardrobe to be hot-and-humid friendly (lots of mesh sun shirts, face shield, etc), but my most affected areas are my hands and feet, which essentially have arthritis and swell quite easily in the heat. I was first looking into mesh riding gloves (riding without gloves is painful), but was recommended to take a look into the Back on Track gloves. Does anyone have experience with these helping in arthritis-type cases?
Will also take any other care recommendations you may have, I haven’t ridden outdoors during summer since before my diagnosis, and this will be my first ever humid riding experience, so I am pretty nervous about staying cool, hydrated, shielded, and non-swollen!
I have the BoT gloves, but they are pretty warm, I only wear them in the winter. I have mild problems with my hands, especially the right one (no formal diagnosis) and usually my hands hurt and my grip is weaker in the winter but with the BoT gloves they don’t feel worse in the winter just their normal level of weak. It may just be psychosomatic but I feel like they help, but I do not think you would find them comfortable on a hot humid summer day.
I think BoT products work for my horse. They’re definitely better suited to cold climates, but even in the heat the brush boots do a good job keeping her from swelling and stocking up with minimal sweating. I’ve also had success with their polos, brush boots, saddle pads, blankets, and bonnets. That said, I did buy the gloves for myself and ended up sending them back twice. No matter what size I ordered the fingers were long…like ET alien finger long! If they fit your hands though they are certainly worth a try. I think the ceramic does wonders for circulation problems. Just make sure you order from somewhere with a good return policy in case they don’t fit.
I use them in winter and like them. I wonder if you have trigger finger or arthritis which is causing your joints to swell.?
Henlie I cannot comment on the gloves, but do you wear night brace on your wrists to keep your hand from curling? I have found this hugely helpful in keeping extra pain and swelling down.
When we sleep many of us naturally curl our hands and wrists and this promotes soreness and swelling. It might help a bit with day to day maintenance. I use one which isolates the thumb as well.
They also make compression gloves which have a lower profile and are meant for night wear. They target the hand and fingers
Best wishes for managing your situation. I hope as you acclimate you are able to be more comfortable
Overall, I’m a major fan of BOT, for both my horses and myself, except for their gloves (the thin liner ones), which is the only one of their products which I’ve not found worthwhile, and which I would not buy again.
What does help my hands are the fingerless, crafter-type gloves of stretchy fabric. I’ve got a couple of different pairs, which are thin enough that I can wear them under regular gloves (with fingers), if I need. Indoors, I wear them by themselves. When riding in our hot/humid weather, I wear crochet-back riding gloves with leather palms.
Look at joann.com, under gloves, and you will see this type. They are meant for sewists, knitters, quilters, etc.
The therapeutic compression gloves are also finger tip-less and might do under conventional gloves. They are , however, for restricted use, not more than 8 hours /day so typically intended for night wear. The crafter gloves Jarpur mentions sound like they may be a safe compromise.
