We’ve all been there. In the heat of the moment, during a team fight, while sneaking around corners to assassinate enemies or when rushing the other teams base. Our hands get cold and we start freezing the most vital part — the fingers which should pull the trigger in the most crucial moments.

With cold hands comes slower reactions and that’s a huge issue for many gamers who wants to bring their a-game to the table. But why do you get cold hands when playing video games?

I’ve been playing video games for most of my life. I started playing Warcraft III back when I was a child and I’ve been hooked ever since. A problem that has been consistent over all these years was my hands freezing and the feeling of reacting slower when it was most needed, because of this problem.

I’ve tried many different things over the years — holding a glass of hot water, sitting on my hands while I was dead in counter-strike, and many other things. But the issue I had with all these solutions was that when I wasn’t sitting on my hands they started getting cold again and my reactions became slow again.

But why is it like this?

The reason lies in our prehistorical bodies, which are designed to run away from big animals or hunt for food. This is known as the ”fight-or-flight response”. When we’re feeling fear or excitement, our bodies emits adrenaline, which means that the blood will rush away from your hands and straight to the bigger muscle groups like your legs and arms. This helps you run faster, but on the other hand this means that your hands will be cold.

When you’re playing video games your hands get cold because of the adrenaline your body emits due to the intensity and excitement from the game. If you ever played Euro Truck Simulator, I doubt your hands get cold, but if you played counter-strike or League of Legends I bet you have had this issue.

So what can you do about it?

Currently there’s not many great options out there, and that’s what me and my team are currently working on.

We’ve spoken to many different professional gamers.

Ladislav “Guardian” Kovács tells us that it’s a problem for almost all professional gamers. Lukas “Santorin” Larsen says that when he’s playing he is getting cold hands, and the thing he found most effective so far was holding a hot cup of water in his hands. He also said that whenever he removes his hands they get cold again — so it’s not optimal at all.

I want to do something about this issue

If you want to know about the solution to your cold hands and decreased performance, when it really matters I have great news for you. A company called Envavo is creating the Heatbuff — a product that can increase your performance and keep your hands warm. Check it out: http://www.envavo.com

Happy gaming!