Yesterday i went food shopping with my mum. My hands were particularly painful yesterday, so i was basically living with my gloves on. So in i go to the superpermarket, and immediately loads of strange looks!! Its a normal thing of mine and mums to stand underneath the entrance part where hot air blows down, course that looks wierd as it is without me wearin gloves haha. We began to walk round and everyone was looking at me, i just smiled back 
then when i walked down an aisle, a fairly elderly woman looked at my hands, then looked at me and smiled, not a what are you wearin them for smile, a genuine smile. Then of course we go to the cold section and my hands were sosososo bad!! They werent good beforeand there was me thinking oh itll be ok, and no. Supermarkets are now my official enemy!! Haha 
My new least favourite shop....superm... - Scleroderma & Ray...
My new least favourite shop....supermarkets!!
Hello littlemissshy...unless you really HAVE to I would avoid the chiller/freezer sections in the supermarkets. If like me you ever live alone and need to go, plan exactly what you want in those areas and get to a warmer area immediately....anywhere where they may have electrical equipment such as TV's etc being demonstrated. Just simple things like bagging your stuff, taking your card or money from a purse and using the card reader can be SO difficult. So many people dont realise just how complicated simple chores can be with Raynaud symptoms...Best wishes..and stick to HOT shops as and when you can..... 
Hi, yes luckily i live wih my parents at the moment (im a teen) it doesnt help living on a mountain! It means that most of the time i have to go, just in case of an attack etc....yes a lot of people seem to think its just cold hands, but it really isnt!! Yes i will thanks a lot
Hi, yes luckily i live wih my parents at the moment (im a teen) it doesnt help living on a mountain! It means that most of the time i have to go, just in case of an attack etc....yes a lot of people seem to think its just cold hands, but it really isnt!! Yes i will thanks a lot
I have a different sensation - I go into shock if I go near or into the chiller aisle. So now totally avoid them 
mmhmm, thats odd, good luck!!
I have a different problem with supermarkets. Just trying to bend or stretch for an item, or picking up different shapes. But at Sainsbugs there is always someone to help. Plus they don't have those confounded coin operated trolleys.
This isn't going to affect you. But I started getting my groceries delivered, because I was so puny and had difficulty with my stairs. I now get a delivery approx every 3 weeks. I look forward to it. All frozen stuff is together and no heavy groceries to lug. So then all I need to buy is bread etc at other times
i find even tins a pain, as they seem soooo heavy!!! luckily, my mum and sister are usually with me. like at school when i was doing cooking, i couldnt manage to carry the sauspan with the spaghetti in it to the sink to drain it, so my teacher had to. i find myself quite useless aswell as we sometimes use a basket and i cant carry it after a two bottles of milk are put in!! i also have the problem that when things are on high shelves, my mum is quite short, so i have to struggle to reach things, plus because im quite tall ive had random people, mostly elderly, approach me and ask for help, after that i can hardly say no, so i do anyway....i find ice cream/lollies, hard to eat now too, as they are harsh on my hands, and they make me cold from the inside!!
yes, i think i might have to do that in the future!! haha, all the best
My problem in supermarkets starts with trying to push the trolley. The cold metal is a nightmare added to by selecting cold fruit and veg. It's got a lot worse than it used to be and the supermarkets keep their temperature so low.
yes, im not sure where you live in the world but in the uk, we have plastic handles mainly although its still hard....i know its always soooooo cold!!! also sorry i didnt reply sooner, thanks for the reply!!!!
Hello, supermarkets always seem super cold even on the hottest days ( when we get them)..... I always go prepared with gloves, jumper or cardigan do get some funny looks when others are walking round in shorts and little tops - but I think to myself that they must be cold and putting on a brave face -:). Xx
hehe yes, thats exactly what i do....sometimes i forget and im like, why are you wearing that? its so cold!! haaha
I find asda freezer and fresh meat section's the worst,,been in all different supermarkets but get most reaction from theirs,i'll stick to tesco and iceland.....I do use my walking stick to get things down from up high ,just make sure the items arnt breakable as not always able to catch lol.....putting the items onto the cash desk and into the bags is hard but once thats done the cabies take over and bring my bags right in for me ... (i do have a pair of suede pink golf gloves i often wear shopping and no one bothers) prob dont even notice them... yes once upon a time i played golf ,as you can imagine thats quite out of the question now..good job i kept the gloves tho.....
My thoughts are:
a) Don't worry about other people's reactions; we humans spend far too much time trying to adjust to what we imagine other people's expectations are, and 'keeping up appearances'. We cannot know what other people are thinking. While trying to imagine it we end up trying to imagine ourselves as other people might see us, i.e. we split our perception off and invest it in other people and then try to use them as a mirror to see ourselves! Stick with yourself and what you know to be true for you. (It's hard work, particularly if you are a naturally self-conscious person like me!)
b) I use knitted wrist warmers to help keep warm blood flow to my hands.
c) Silver gloves are supposed to help a lot. Maybe they look less conspicuous than the ones you use.
Our local Morrisons has that fine mist spray over their green veg, feels like you are in a chilly rain forest! In Tesco I leave the chilled stuff to my husband and nip off to the hot cabinet by the deli and keep warm there! It's open fronted so you can put your hands in, most people just smile and say "Yes it is chilly in here".
Hello, I have the bulk of mine delivered as I find it all exhausting, can't cope with all that reaching up and down and lifting on to the belt and packing it up and then putting it into the car. Ocado - £4.99 per month for a midweek delivery - worth every penny.
Yes I know what you mean funny looks for wearing gloves, but I get even funnier looks when I pay and haven't kept my hands warm by wearing gloves and people see a pair of purple hands so you can't win either way!
You need to think of yourself first and keep those hands warm, roll on summer.
Know the feeling all to well. I am going to have me a shirt or jacket made just for going to the supermarket. I am not sure what I am going to put on it. I often think about putting something on it for the people that stare or ask is it that cold? Even in July!!!! Know what I mean. I am used to the staring but I get so tired of explaining my condition and most people have never heard of it anyway.
Hello littlemissshy, don't worry about people looking and thinking you strange for wearing your gloves. I am exactly the same and I only go out if I really have to. At the supermarket I try to avoid the cold food sections if possible or try to plan the route to get to what I need there even if it means going around rather than through the aisles. The weather is driving me crazy as well so I sympathise with you.
Just do what you need to do to make yourself as warm and as comfortable as you can at all times. You don't owe anyone any explaination as to why you are wearing gloves when everyone seems nice and warm. If they are curious and ask then you can explain if you wish to.
Even in the middle of summer I sometimes need to put my heating on in the home and in the car to warm my hands and feet. That's just the way it is for us so don't worry. Keep smiling and keep warm.
All the best.
Graygirl1
If you look at the staff who pack the cold shelves they wear insulating gloves whether they have Raynauds or not! I go to supermarkets that cook chickens etc on site, that have a convenient hand-warming glass cover over them. I find people understand immediately ! They agree that the aisles are chilly. Surely you being warm and comfortable is more important than what other people might think or say?
thanks everyone!! lots of great ideas thanks!!
Has anyone tried using a "reach and grab" in a Supermarket? I have one, but haven't tried using outside my home.
sorry but what is a reach and grab??!!
It is a stick-like thing with a grabber at one end. Mine folds so is easy to carry. You just grip the handle part and the other end grabs what you want!! Sorry - hard to describe. It can be used for picking up small things from the floor as well as getting tins etc from high shelves.
ahh ok, sorry this may seem harsh or whatever but i dont mean it to be, but it sounds like an enlarged litter picker!! haha thanks
You are right, but it is much more than that! Mine has suckers which can even pick up a paper clip. It can get something like a tin off a high shelf, so I guess it could help with shopping...???
Do you use fingerless gloves? I make my own whatever colour I want. I can knit, thankfully.
thats cool (the suckers i mean)!! luckily im still with my parents as im still in my teens so they help. i make my own full material gloves as otherwise my fingers go purple as they are always cold, gloves or not!! i recentl;y made a bag which doesnt cut off my circulation and now im making a deodrant case as they are always so cold to touch haha
Hi Littlemissshy, I know how you feel with people giving you odd looks walking around a Supermarket wearing gloves. I had the same thing today when I was in ASDA as my hands where really cold and painful. I just give them a look back and they walk off normal moaning under their breath. I also have a grabber to help me at home as I'm a short bum and everyone puts things out of my reach but I have never used it outside as I always go shopping with either family or friends so they help get the things i can't. Also when I'm in a Supermarket I get my hubby to go down the Freezer Aisles while I do the rest. I Crochet and make my own gloves so i have a pair for each bag I have plus spare.
hi, yes i get lots of looks, especially off children and teens, the children always go 'why is she wearing gloves mummy' then they are told to shush normally but they still give me odd looks. luckily for me im tall, 5"7 ish, but i cant get stuff high for too long as my blood goes out of my arm and thengoes purple, and i cant carry heavy things...i have a lot of restrictions haha i make material gloves too! i recently made a bag, one thaat doesnt cut off my circulation, and now im making a case for deodrant as they are always so cold!!
Have you tried wrist warmers? You can tuck a hot pad inside and it is not obvious if you are wearing something with long sleeves.
thats great thanks!!
There are two sorts of hot pads you can get (from RSA) - one is reusable and you revive it by putting in water which you bring to the boil. the other lasts much longer but can only be used once.
i have a sort of heated hand warmer thing from a shop, im not sure how many times you can use it though.....
Is it a small thing (possibly shaped like a hot water bottle) which has a metal disk in it? You flex the disk and the liquid changes to a solid, giving out heat. To use it again, you put it in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. After about 5 mins, the solid has changed back to liquid. You then turn off the heat and leave it to cool in the pan. DON'T forget it and allow the pan to boil dry!!
You can use it MANY times.
When I was at school, I used to let my friends look at my white fingers and watch the blood come back into them!! We made a joke of it!!
Just to encourage you, this hasn't got much worse as I have grown older. In fact when I was at school, I had terrible chilblains on my toes and up my legs. I don't have them now, but I do live near to the Equator now!!
yes i have four of those but also some different ones, thanks!!
I know what you mean littlemissshy. I worked as a frontend asst. manager at a supermarket until I couldn't stand it anymore. It was always cold, too much air conditioner in the summer and too little heat in the winter. I was so tired of my customers asking me why I wore gloves and jackets all the time. Some people were really rude about it. I dread having to grocery shop anymore. The worst part is that I live in the deep south in the U.S. where it is always very hot. You should see the looks I get in the summer. Oh well, it is what it is. Take care.
awww,poor you!!!!
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