Category: Health

Raynaud’s // Ocoopa Rechargeable Hand Warmer Review

Raynaud’s // Ocoopa Rechargeable Hand Warmer Review

Every winter, I feel like my hands and feet get so cold that they are going to fall off. I had always put it down to bad circulation and shivered on through.

However, at a routine visit to my rheumatologist, (I have an auto immune condition) I mentioned that my fingers were also starting to turn white. I showed her some photos of my hands on a bad day and I was diagnosed with Raynaud’s .

According to the HSE website:

“The condition occurs because your blood vessels go into a temporary spasm which blocks the flow of blood. This causes the affected area to change colour to white, then blue and then finally red as the blood flow returns.

You may also experience pain, numbness and pins and needles in the affected body parts. Symptoms can last from a few minutes to several hours.

Raynaud’s is usually triggered by cold temperatures or by anxiety or stress.”

Looking at different hand warmer options

The handwarmers I used to use

For a few years I had been using hand-warmers that you need to click a mental piece to activate. These plastic wonders are great, however, you can only use them once. As they lose their heat, the liquid does hard so you need to boil them in a pot of water to be able to reuse them. That is not always possible. It also bugged me that these were very plastic. I’m not sure what the liquid substance is in the middle but I doubt it’s entirely good for the environment. I needed to look at alternative solutions.

I had liked the idea of a Zippo hand warmer, however these needed to be filled with lighter fluid and they would have a naked flame. Although these would stay hot for up to six hours, there was no way to put out the flame once lit and it’s not really practical for office / indoor use. They also seemed more suited to hikers.

After researching some other options, I found these USB hand warmers from Ocoopa. They seemed ok so I ordered one.

Unboxing the Ocoopa Hand Warmer

When the hand warmer arrived, the first thing I noticed was that Ocoopa are sponsors of the Raynaud’s Association. Even before I opened the box, that was a confirmation that I had possibly made the right choice. The hand warmer arrived in a nice box with a pouch and USB cable and instructions leaflet alongside and a card from Raynaud’s Association. Also included, I thought was a little ‘Best Wishes to You’ card and a love heart sticker, a really nice little touch. Even though the product was made in China, this definitely gave the impression that by buying their product, you must have been a part of the Raynaud’s family and community. A lovely gesture.

One of the benefits of the hand warmer was that if I wasn’t using the device as a hand-warmer, I could use it as an extra battery pack for my phone, which is always handy.

I had bought the Ocoopa RHW PowerPlus Edition, ZLS-A8 model, which has a battery capacity of 7800mAh and weighs in at 190g. It also has three cable options for charging.

The design was sleek, with a different texture on the heated pad portion of the hand warmer, making it easier to grip. There are three little LEDs on the hand warmer. When red, they indicate the level of heat being produced and when you’re charging the device, they flash blue showing the charge level.

I found it to be comfortable in the palm of my hand and just the right size to hold on to. So far, so good! But what about the heat?

I switched on the device as I was leaving work, it would take an hour to reach home. The heat settings ranged from hot to comfortably warm. By the time I got home, I went online to order a second one.

These things are awesome. The heat lasted at least 2 and half hours. One for each hand makes for a more comfortable outing on a winter’s day. I did find that one of them gets slightly hotter than the other and once the hand warmer heats up (only takes a few seconds), the first or middle settings were enough. Three lights on was too much for me.

The idea of these things isn’t to roast your hands. If you have Raynaud’s, you don’t want extremes. For me, if my hands get too hot, they swell up. It’s all about moderation.

Even in the depth’s of winter, I found that when I was freezing, and wearing gloves, the middle setting was enough once I got my hands warmed up.

The hand warmers are not heavy and are charged through a USB cable. They take about 2 to two and a half hours to charge and stay warm for at least three hours. I’ve turned on the hand warmers as I was leaving the house, turned them off when I get to work and they are also good for the return journey. I’ve also used them after that without charging up. That’s at least two and a half / three hours.

I’ve also used the hand-warmer as a phone battery pack. It’s really handy to have in an everyday backpack or handbag. I get about one and a half phone to two full charges from each.

I genuinely didn’t know that the Raynaud’s Association had endorsed this product. I chose it as it was affordable and a safe option to use on public transport and at work and just seemed right for what I needed.

The Ocoopa Rechargeable hand warmer gets two toasty thumbs up from me!

This isn’t a sponsored post, I bought both handwarmers myself. However, the image on the right is an affiliate link, meaning if you decide to purchase the handwarmer, I get a little cut, without costing you anything.

I know it took me a while to find something that would work for my Raynaud’s, hopefully this will work for you.

October 18, 2020
Lyme Disease // I got a bite

I was at the doctor’s for the results of a routine blood test. I have some autoimmune issues and take medication for it. So, I need to make sure that my liver and kidney functions are okay every few months.

I was chatting with the doc who told me everything was fine and was about to leave when I said ‘Oh by the way, does this bite look normal?’

This was one week exactly since I woke up with a bite on my arm. I don’t get bites. No mozzies ever come near me. Poor Tahlulah gets them. It seemed different to those ones though. Whatever got me, had also left a red outer circle and a nice bruise. Bullseye!

The doc’s face changed. ‘When did you get this?, When were you in a forest? You were hiking right?’

No, I wasn’t and then it dawned on me. ‘That’s not a mosquito bite.’ He quickly browsed his NHS reference sites.

‘Are you thinking it’s a tick bite?’, I asked. ‘Yup’, he nodded.

He showed me pictures from the NHS site of tick bites and lyme disease. ‘Yours looks like that.’

Two Days after the bite appeared

Lyme Disease Symptoms

The first sign that you’ve been bitten by an infected tick is this bullseye bite. But, it only shows in about 50% of cases. In my case, I am so lucky. I had been feeling shite for the while. I put it down to missing or forgetting to take my own medication. With what I have anyway, when I’m not feeling well, I get really tired, exhausted and fatigued doing nothing. I get aches and pains in my muscles. I also get a really annoying brain fog which is really frustrating. But since I started the medication almost seven years ago, I haven’t been as fatigued and drained as I once was.

These can also be symptoms of Lyme Disease. If I hadn’t to have the bullseye bite, I would be going back to my consultant saying my drugs weren’t working. I didn’t feel a bite, I didn’t see anything on my skin.

I live in a leafy area. There’s a row of trees across from us, there are several parks within a 10 minute walk. Our house cat, Norman, is just that. A house cat. The last time I was in the park was about 2 months ago, the Sunday that England were playing in the world cup. I took this picture that day.

This horrible bite with it’s bruise appeared on my left arm, not on my ankle or leg. I wasn’t even getting close to the squirrels. If this happened last winter, I would have blamed one of the squirrels I used to go feed. Even then I tried to make sure they didn’t touch me. One guy pulled my jeans one day looking for berries.

The Rise of Lyme Disease

Tick bites and Lyme Disease are on the rise in the UK and in Ireland. Only a bite from an infected tick is dangerous. Basically what happens is that they go off, bite an infected animal, take some of their gunk and then bite you. Lovely.

Make sure you know what to look for and if you’re in doubt, get yourself to a doctor. You will need to get on antibiotics as soon as possible. If it’s untreated, you can end up with long term side effects.

I’m allergic to penicillin which can make antibiotics a bit of a nightmare. I’ve just finished my course of medication. Doxycycline. 2 x 100mg twice a day for three weeks. 84 tablets in total. These things are sickly, absolutely horrible things but they have to be strong to work.

I’m hoping this will be enough. I’m hoping I won’t need a second round of antibiotics. I’m still feeling crap and extremely fatigued but I’m hoping that this is just getting over the antibiotics.

This isn’t a ‘Woe is me’ post, this is ‘If your not feeling right or you’ve had a bite, go get yourself sorted’ post. It was only when I saw the expression on the Doc’s face that I realised that tick bites aren’t to be messed with. There are now somewhere between 2000 – 3000 cases in the UK every year, but doctors don’t have to report how many cases they see in their surgery.

Every time this post shows up in a google search or someone shares, it will raise awareness.

I’ll keep you updated on what happens with me.

September 23, 2018
My Broken Thumb // Dealing with the NHS

It took forty something years but I’ve broken a bone. Two weeks ago, I slipped on the floor. It was a Sunday afternoon and we had just done some household chores, cumulating with washing all our tiled floors.

Talulah went out to the local shop, I was taking an arty shot for Instagram. I heard her fumble for the keys at the front door so I shouted that I would get it. I walked, I slipped. She hears me hit the ground and shout ‘Shit!’. She opens the door to find me in a crumpled heap.

I had gone down hard on my knees but it was my thumb that hurt like hell.

Waiting in A & E

After the initial shock had worn off, it became apparent that it was more than just a bang. Even though I had it elevated and iced with a trusty bag of peas, my right thumb was battered, bruised, swollen and in a shape I had never seen before.

By the time this realisation set in, it was too late to go to A&E. Some painkillers and a sleep later, I walked the frosty footpaths to our local emergency department at Lewisham University Hospital.

A Trip to Lewisham University Hospital

There was one person in front of me, I sat waiting my turn. Casualties from the icy morning commute started arriving in, broken arms, bashed in faces from falling off bicycles. These were obviously more important than my little (or huge at this stage) thumb.

But after seeing the triage nurse, I did wonder why I wasn’t being called to the next assessment room. My queries were answered when I was called directly to the doctor.

A subtle, ‘this thumb’s gone’ from the radiologist confirmed my fears. The doc then told me I had an intra articulate fracture on the top joint of my thumb. If you’re squeamish, skip to the next paragraph. Basically, I had knocked a piece of bone away from the rest of my thumb at the back of the joint.

My thumb was so swollen, they found it hard to get a splint that would fit properly. But after a long search, they found one that would do the job.

I had to wear this for a week, it was a piece of plastic so I could use in the shower and re-tape it tight each time. The nurses and doctors were brilliant so kind, and even though I felt like a bit of an eejit, reassured me that I wasn’t the only one with this with a break that morning.

So this trip me up and off I went. I had to wear this plastic house for a week until I went to see the hand specialist in Saint Thomas’ hospital.

St Thomas’ Hospital

I’ve never been to Saint Thomas’ before, And I guess this was really my first major encounter with the NHS. I wasn’t sure how long anything would take. I arrived to the cold hand clinic about 30 minutes before my appointment time.

I checked in at reception and sat by the window looking over some train lines leaving Waterloo station. It was 10 floors up so got a decent view of south London.

After a few minutes the receptionist asked if everyone had been seen by a doctor. I said no but if there were still 20 minutes before my appointment time. The doctor then called me and examined my hand.

The good news was that there doesn’t seem to be any ligament or tendon damage. That would been a bit horrible and I was warned not to google it. He told me that I would have to wear a small splint on my thumb for another couple of weeks. He then apologised profusely as there was no appointment with the physio to make this splint on till 4 o’clock that afternoon.

He double checked with the physio plastics department and again apologised that I would have to wait a couple of hours.

Hand Therapy Clinic

There were is no point in me waiting around so I left for a while coming back later for my appointment. Now, the hand therapy department is busy. When I arrived there were five physios/occupational therapists working with people. I had I had to wait maybe 20 minutes before I was seen.

My therapist called me in and again apologised for me waiting. I had wondered why they call this the plastics department and I soon found out why. Basically the new cast set then make our little pieces of plastic cut out, and heated up and then wrapped around your thumb to fit it exactly. It’s quite impressive how they do it really and and really simple.

Here’s where I was really impressed with how I have been treated. As the physio was was going through everything with me, I was told not to do anything with my hand for least two weeks. Seeing as it’s your hand that’s a bit of A pain. They asked if there is someone at home who could help me with my daily chores. They asked me if I needed help. They asked me if there was someone who would be able to cook and help me dress every day. They asked if there is someone who would be able to help me shower.

This is something I never would’ve even thought a health service would ask if forty something year old with a broken thumb. It’s not the greatest injury in the world but yes, for me at the moment it’s a bit of head wreck.

What do you simple questions have instilled is that although I have had no major reason to use the NHS, they now have my confidence and they treated me like a person not just like another number.

Another Trip to A & E

A month later – my thumb’s still swollen

I had been told not to do anything with my hand for two weeks. I took this seriously. I didn’t use it. However, after two weeks, I tried just typing with three fingers on my right hand. I stopped after 15 minutes. My hand started swelling up again. I did the same for a couple of days following this. It was so bad that my hand was sore to touch.

So I called the clinic and they told me to go to A & E, which I did.

It was afternoon and I was seen fairly quickly. Nice point about when I checked in. There were volunteers at reception who helped me fill in forms to ensure they were eligible, which was good, as I couldn’t hold a pen and the writing on my left hand was at 6 year old standard.

The Doc saw me and told me it was most likely ligament damage and not to overuse my hand. Although, I think they may have thought I had hurt my hand again by hitting/whacking it off something. This came from the original injury.

He told me to stay like that until my next appointment, ten days later.

Freaking Out At A Cancelled Appointment

My appointment was for Friday at 4pm. As I was about to leave work and my phone rang. It was the hospital. My appointment was cancelled due to illness and they told me that the next available appointment was a month away.

I freaked out. There was no way I could wait another 4 weeks before seeing a doctor. While not being rude to the Hand Clinic Receptionist, I made sure that I had to get an earlier appointment. To be honest, I was starting to get worried about what movement I would have if I left my thumb in a splint for another month. That would not be good.

I managed to blag an appointment for March 17th but made it clear that I really needed to be seen ASAP as there was still a broken / no longer broken bone issue going on.

Twenty minutes later the phone rang. I had an appointment for March 7th. Ten days later than the appointment was supposed to be but I was very happy, it was three weeks earlier than their proposed date.

The NHS Needs More Resources

Talulah came with me to this appointment. I was seen by a nice therapist from County Antrim. To put it nicely, I need a lot of physio, probably extra because of the cancelled appointment and because I was told not to use my hand when I went to A&E for the second time.

I don’t blame the staff, they’re awesome at their jobs. What’s wrong with the system is simple. The NHS needs more resources to keep up with the demand.

My physio adventures coming soon.

March 12, 2017