Do Raynaud’s Compression Gloves Actually Work?

In a previous post, we talked about the best compression gloves for Raynaud’s disease. Such gloves are designed to improve blood flow and provide warmth, features that help with Raynaud’s disease, and conditions like arthritis. Some of the gloves are infused with copper, while others aren’t. But, do Raynaud’s compression gloves actually work?

To answer that question, I picked up two pairs myself.

My Experience with Raynaud’s

It’s hard to know how common Raynaud’s disease is. Some estimates say that around 20% of the global population experiences some degree of it. Others say that it only affects between 3% and 5% of the population.

Either way, it’s not well known.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when as I was researching for the previous post, I realized that I actually have the condition.

So, what is it?

Raynaud’s basically involves spasms in blood vessels, which block blood flow and can lead to numbness in the extremities. Symptoms are most common when it’s cold, but stress can be a trigger too.

This is more than just cold hands and feet when the temperature is cold. It can also mean numbness, a loss of color, and difficulty using the affected areas.

The strength of the effect doesn’t always match the trigger either.

I often find this. My fingers (and sometimes my toes) will start getting cold, then numb and white, even if the rest of me feels fine and the environment isn’t really that cold.

It’s frustrating when I’m working, sometimes meaning I need to make the room too warm, just so my hands will behaves themselves.

When it’s mild, my hands look like this:

The discoloration is there, but it’s hard to spot.

Sometimes the discoloration is much worse, particularly if I’ve been in the cold for a while or am highly stressed.

So, I was interested to see whether compression gloves actually made a difference.

To do so, I ordered two sets of compression gloves. They were similar to the ones reviewed in the previous post. They weren’t exactly the same though, as I’m in New Zealand, so I wanted products that I could buy locally.

Copper Compression Gloves

This first set of compression gloves are similar to these ones from Amazon. They’re made from a blend of cotton nylon and spandex, and include copper. The copper is meant to be particularly powerful for joint pain.

They’re black and very thin, with rubber strips on one side. The rubber is meant to be non-slip grip support, making it easier to hold onto cellphones, tools, and the like.

I can see why too, as the fabric of the gloves themselves is quite slippery.

This particular pair has short fingers, not even coming up to my first joint. That was an intentional choice, as I wanted the most possible mobility in my hands for typing.

You can actually find longer versions and even full hand ones of the same gloves. I’m tempted to try longer ones in the future if I can find them locally.  

What They Feel Like

The fabric on these gloves is light, which is nice when the room is warm. I think I could even wear the gloves in the summer without a problem.

The compression is noticeable, but also subtle. I feel it most on my fingers and around my wrist. There isn’t much compression on my hands themselves, which is surprising.

If it wasn’t for the rubber lines on the palms, I could easily forget that I’m wearing the gloves.

Do These Raynaud’s Compression Gloves Work?

My fingers definitely still get cold when I’m wearing these gloves. I can feel that if I touch them to my face or arm.

But, they do get less cold and rarely turn white.

That’s quite impressive for how thin these gloves are. I mean, they only cover a fraction of each finger, yet still manage to influence the temperature of my whole hand.

I also experience joint pain from fibromyalgia. The gloves don’t seem to have much impact on this. I don’t think there’s enough compression to make a difference here.

Other Thoughts

I like the look of these gloves and how they don’t feel like much at all.

They give me plenty of flexibility too, which is great for work.

The biggest issue is slightly silly – I keep losing them. The gloves are small and thin, so they take up barely any space. It’s easy to take them off, put them in a jacket pocket, then forget which jacket they’re in.

The other thing is that their effects are subtle. They don’t fix any problems with my hands. They simply make things a little better.

For me personally, that’s not a problem. I wasn’t expecting dramatic improvements. Subtle is fine.

Grey Compression Gloves

The other pair of gloves is similar to these ones. They don’t contain copper and use a combination of cotton, spandex, and nylon as the material.

They go much further up my fingers than the black ones and are much more like regular gloves.

Surprisingly, it’s very easy to move my hands in them. It’s even possible to type and work at my normal efficiency while wearing gloves. That’s a huge win for me.

What They Feel Like

These certainly feel like compression gloves. There’s consistent pressure across my hand and fingers, but they don’t feel too tight either.

I’ve seen plenty of non-compression gloves with similar fabric, but none fit as well as these do.

Do These Raynaud’s Compression Gloves Work?

The gloves keep my fingers warm (I’d be shocked if they didn’t, given that they cover all by the very top of each finger).

My fingers will still occasionally go numb if it’s very cold and I’m not moving around much. Gloves would need to be much thicker to avoid that problem (and then they wouldn’t be nearly as versatile).

For Raynaud’s then, yes, I think these gloves work and work well.

They seem to help with my joint pain too. If I wear them for most or all of a workday, my joint pain is manageable when I stop. There’s still pain, but it does seem to be less.

Sleeping with the gloves on seems to decrease pain the following day too.

Admittedly though, I don’t do that often. Wearing gloves to bed just seems strange.

Other Thoughts

The compression on these gloves is a little intense at times and I don’t have as much flexibility as with the black pair.

Still, I’m impressed with how much I can do while wearing them.

They’re also the best solution I’ve found for Raynaud’s – for me, at least. They don’t completely stop the symptoms, but they certainly cut the issues down.  

Which Pair Is Best?

The grey gloves are the clear winner for me. They don’t contain copper, but the material feels nicer and provides much better compression.

They’re warmer too. While some of that warmth comes from the longer fingers, much of it comes from the material.

The grey ones actually keep my fingers warm, while the black ones largely make my fingers less cold.

That said, the black ones are useful sometimes.

They take up less space, making them easier to carry with me. They’re also good when I need flexibility. It’s easier to type wearing these than the grey ones and these feel nicer to sleep in too.

I think it’s worth having at least one pair of each type – one copper infused, one not.

I’d personally like different lengths of each as well. That would give me more flexibility (and help with the fact that I keep losing my gloves!).

Does the Copper Help?

Honestly, I don’t know.

I saw more symptom relief from the non-copper gloves than the copper ones, but that might be due to differences in fabric and compression.

Various articles suggest that copper fibers in gloves probably don’t do much.

Still, the copper isn’t likely to cause harm either and the gloves aren’t expensive. So, perhaps it’s worth trying out a pair for yourself.  

Compression Gloves vs Regular Gloves

I’ve also experimented with regular gloves, including full gloves and fingerless ones.

Full gloves are good for keeping my hands warm. No doubt about that. These are my favorites:

There’s nothing unusual about them. They’re effective simply because they fit well.

It took a lot of trial and error to find gloves that were a snug fit (partly because many companies don’t bother with sizing for gloves or just have small/large as options).

The gloves fit well enough that they’re a little like compression gloves.

It’s even possible to type in them, but only just, which is the catch. Good fit or no, these are still woolen gloves and they’re somewhat bulky. They don’t work well for fine movements.

That sometimes means I need to take the gloves on and off, which isn’t ideal.

I’ve had less luck with fingerless gloves.

The problem comes down to sizing again. I’ve yet to find a pair of regular fingerless gloves that fits well. They’re all somewhat loose.

I’m also amazed at how much difference the compression seems to make.

So, I have a pair of fingerless compression gloves and regular fingerless gloves that cover my hands to roughly the same degree. The regular gloves are thicker and use warmer material.

Yet, the compression gloves tend to keep my hands and fingers warmer. That seems bizarre to me, as the material doesn’t seem like it should be warming at all.

Final Thoughts

Neither pair of gloves completely solved my problem. I still get cold fingers from Raynaud’s and joint pain from fibromyalgia.

However, the gray gloves are enough to stop Raynaud’s from being a big deal, which I love. They mean I can work in a cool room without stress.

I think my joint pain is improving too.

That’s harder to determine, as the pain changes so much from day to day anyway.

Regardless, the gloves were certainly worth their price. I plan to keep using both pairs.