My fingers swell-up

[giantbrookie]

When my dad would go on backpacking trips with me, his hands would always puff up. We always thought this had to do with the constriction of circulation/fluid flow caused by his shoulder straps, as noted by Dave above. I suppose in my dad's case this was fairly extreme, given that for some odd reason he carried all of his weight on his shoulders (didn't use his hip belt--and his pack in his early days was in the 70lb range). I recall that I swell slightly toward the end of a long backpacking day, perhaps for similar reasons, although I carry support much more of the packweight with my hip belt.

[Quandary]

This often happens to me, whether I'm carrying a day pack, a large backpack, or no pack at all. If I'm not carrying a pack, putting both hands up and behind my head for a minute or so makes it go away quickly. If I'm carrying a pack I sometimes hook my thumbs around my sternum strap for a while and this makes the swelling go away.

In general I think getting your arms and hands up higher for a minute or so helps.

[gary c.]

Thanks' everybody It makes me feel much better knowing that I'm not the only one and that it's not a sign of something serious.
Gary C.

[Skibum]

I get "sausage fingers" too if I'm on a long hike with a heavy pack.

What I usually do is hook my thumbs on my sternum strap for awhile and the swelling goes away.

[ndwoods]

Mine used to do that too. And they itched! For me, I lost a little weight (15 lbs)and stopped eating meat for other physical reasons (suggested by a cardiologist that I don't have to go to again-whee!) and my hands stopped doing that as a by product. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining! Dee