Simple ways to prevent joint pain in cold weather

The change of seasons, especially from fall to winter, is a favorable condition for bone and joint diseases to appear and recur, of which joint pain often occurs.

So, what should we do to prevent joint pain during the changing seasons?

Characteristics of osteoarthritis

Normally, when the weather changes seasons, especially when it rains a lot and is cold, people with bone and joint diseases often experience pain, aches, numbness, and stiffness in their joints, especially at night.

For people with difficult economic circumstances, lack of warm clothes, blankets, mattresses, unventilated housing, and a diet lacking in both quantity and quality, joint pain is even more painful and miserable.

Pain and numbness in the joints can range from mild to physical diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis or stiff joints. Some cases of intercostal neuralgia due to lumbar spine degeneration are mistaken for cardiovascular or lung disease, making the patient more confused and worried, especially when autumn turns to winter (rain, cold, chilly, freezing...).

It is worth mentioning that the more pain and aching in bones and joints, the more afraid the patient is to move, leading to stiff joints and difficulty in moving, especially the knees, wrists, fingers...

Supplement foods rich in calcium that are good for bones and joints

Why do we easily get joint pain in cold weather?

The reason for joint pain in the cold season is because cold air penetrates the body through the skin pores, causing blood vessels in the skin to contract, blood to the joints is limited or very little, causing lack of blood to nourish the joints, the synovial membranes and cartilage are stimulated, causing pain.

Therefore, in the cold season, if you do not wear warm clothes, the house is not windproof to let the wind in, the blankets and mattresses are not warm enough, joint pain is more likely to occur, especially for people with joint diseases who are old and weak. In addition, in some people, osteoporosis also causes joint pain or in people who are overweight or obese, it also has a negative impact on the joints that bear weight, when cold, the joints and bones ache even more.

If these phenomena are not gradually overcome, they will lead to joint degeneration, especially joints that bear a lot of weight such as the lumbar spine, knee joints, and ankle joints.

How to treat?

When suffering from joint pain, especially in cold weather, patients should see a doctor, preferably a rheumatologist, to determine the cause (physical damage, osteoarthritis or just reactive arthritis) for early treatment.

Do not be subjective, disregard, do not self-diagnose (if you do not have medical expertise) and do not buy medicine for treatment yourself, especially note not to automatically use corticosteroids (prednisolone, dexamethasone,...) or non-steroidal drugs (meloxicam, mobic...).

The reason is that some pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs can have unwanted side effects. For example, for people with asthma, if they use non-steroidal drugs, it can cause an asthma attack, sometimes life-threatening, or for people with bone and joint pain accompanied by stomach or duodenal ulcers, if they use cortisone (prednosolone, methylprednosolone, solu-medrol...) or aspirin, it can cause acute gastric bleeding. If not detected promptly and treated urgently, it will be very life-threatening.

Is disease prevention difficult?

In terms of disease prevention, it is necessary to keep the body warm. To do this well, you need to wear enough warm clothes, a warm scarf around your neck, gloves on your hands, socks on your feet, and a warm hat on your head. When leaving the house, you need to wear warmer clothes to avoid the cold from negatively affecting your bones and joints, causing pain, aches, numbness, and coldness.

When there are signs of joint pain, numbness, fatigue, especially when waking up, in any position, warm up the area around that position by scraping wind, massaging with oil (wind oil, star anise oil...). Doing so will help the blood vessels dilate, transport blood easily to nourish the joints, reduce joint pain.

You need to bathe and wash daily with hot water, in a closed room, after bathing you need to dry your body and put on clothes immediately to avoid catching a cold and causing bone and joint pain.

According to Vietnam.net