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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

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.