With the changing of the seasons quickly approaching, you may be no stranger to cold weather aches and pains in your body. Can cold weather cause increased pain in muscles and joints? The answer is yes. How can you avoid these winter aches and pains so you can be your regular and active self?
During the colder winter months and colder fall nights, it’s important to keep in mind some regular health tips:
- Don’t use alcohol as a way of getting warm. While it may make you feel warm, you’re actually losing body heat through your dilated veins and vessels.
- Stay hydrated with regular, plain water. Blood flow is important in everyone, especially diabetics who may lose feeling in their hands or feet first. More water = better blood flow. Plus, during the winter the air is known to get very dry. Keeping your skin hydrated with lotions and creams can help topically.
- Stay active. The less you move around and cozy up inside on your couch, the more likely you are to feel strains in your joints and muscles. Keeping an active regimen is an important way to stay warm, pain free, and healthy.
- Layer up. Remember, you can always take off a layer, but you can’t add one if you don’t have it. Better to double up on sweaters and not need them, than to need them and not have them. Make sure to wear appropriate socks and gloves (or mittens, which are warmer) for essential toe and finger joints.
- Stretch regularly. Sometimes you can’t always be out and about, so that’s when you can take a few minutes to stretch. Adding a daily routine for stretching essential areas can help you avoid those winter pains in your muscles and joints, and they only take a couple of minutes at most.
- Top up on Vitamin D. Don’t go crazy with it, but taking a daily supplement that includes vitamin D can help you combat what you’ll be losing by not being out during those extra daylight hours.
If you’re still really feeling those pains of winter, contact us today to schedule an appointment for chiropractic care or massage therapy.
How do you combat winter aches and pains? Do you have a special remedy that works great? Let us know how you do it in the comments below!