Are You Suffering from Winter Joint Pain? (Tips to Recover)

Do the chilly mornings of winter make your joints ache? If yes, you’re not alone. Cold weather and joint pain have a complicated relationship. When the temperature drops, your joints start to feel sore. The joint pain is not limited to the knees. Knee pain in cold weather will be more. But hips and ankles also feel stiff and painful. This is a very common problem among people, especially elderly people. The good news is you can relieve the pain and discomfort caused by the cold. But for that, you need to understand why cold causes achy joints. If you understand that, you can also find your own ways to cope with it.

Cold temperature makes muscles tight. The tension in the muscles causes lower mobility and flexibility. Winters make people feel stiffer than usual. Cold weather also reduces blood circulation to fingers and toes. This also leads to stiffness in fingers and toes. One more reason can be vitamin d deficiency as people tend to stay indoors in winters. Here’s how you can stay safe during winters and relieve your winter joint pain.

#Tip 1 – Stay physically active all-day

When winter comes, you’ll want to stay indoors. You’ll want to stay under the blanket to feel cozy. That’s the first mistake that everyone makes. You should never halt your body like that. You stop moving your body and it’ll start to get stiff. It is important to keep it moving. It doesn’t have to be heavy weight lifting or cardio. Some light exercises would suffice as they would keep the joints active. Resist the comfort of your bed. If you start being active, you can stop the pain from even starting. The activities can be yoga, brisk walk or weight training.

#Tip 2 – Keep your weight in control

It is understandable to gain weight during winters. Winter comes and brings weight gain with it. Couple that with the low physical activity and you’ll have a substantial weight gain in a very short period of time. That weight will stay with you for the rest of the year. And on top of that, it’ll cause your joints more stress than they’re used to. It is hard to resist the food during winters but you need to do it. Fill yourself with healthy food like fresh fruits and leafy vegetable salad. This will keep the weight at the proper level and the joints will not have additional weight to carry wherever you go.

#Tip 3 – Layer up to keep the cold out

The majority of us wear winter clothing to keep warm. But many of us start out late. They think it’s not that cold yet. They don’t feel cold. Whether you do or don’t, the cold will never forget to do its job. It will make your fingers numb. That’s the first step to sore joints. It is simple enough to avoid. Start wearing winter clothing right from the start of the winter season. Don’t think you don’t need it because you do. Keep a jacket in your bag or vehicle. Start wearing socks every day and keep gloves with you for chilly bike rides. 

#Tip 4 – Keep warm when you’re indoors

It is important that your home stays warm during the winter season. Repair any broken windows and faulty faucets. Keep yourself warm with warm foods like soups. If needed, install a heater in your bedroom. Winter nights tend to get chillier suddenly. If anyone in your home suffers from any disease like diabetes, you need to take even more precautions to stay warm. Keep the temperature of the home at a comfortable level and stay safe from winter sores.

#Tip 5 – Stay adequately hydrated

It is true that you won’t be as thirsty in winters as you are in summers. The perspiration is less. Loss of water is lower compared to hot summers. This makes you drink less water than usual. This has to be avoided at all costs. It is very important to stay hydrated in winter. Additionally, you can have warm water which is better for the throat as well. Set a target of water intake and achieve it every day. The target can be less than summer. But 2-3 liters should be the minimum intake per day.

#Tip 6 – Have a wholesome diet 

This goes without saying. Having proper food can always make you feel better. It helps fight off diseases by keeping your immunity level up. It helps you keep sound mental health. It is important to not overeat and gain weight. But it is also important that you eat as much as your body needs. Starving yourself is the last thing you can do during winters. A well-balanced diet will keep you energized and keep the diseases away. 

These are some of the tips to keep cold-weather joint pain away during winters. You can do many other things to stay healthy as per your needs. If the pain still persists, you need an expert. Radiance Hospitals have an excellent team of specialists who help in joint pain and find different ways to do it. Put your trust in the experienced specialists of Radiance Hospitals. Contact us.

Do you feel an occasional joint pain when you walk more than usual? Do you feel strain on your joints when you climb stairs? It obviously makes you worried. Your mind races and you might think this is the onset of something worse. One of the most prominent reasons for this pain is your weight. There are two major ways your weight induces pain and raises risk for osteoarthritis. One is, it puts additional stress on your knees. The other is the inflammatory factors associated with obesity can contribute to swelling in joints.

Being overweight or obese can increase the chances of having osteoarthritis. As osteoarthritis is the wear and tear of the joints, being overweight just makes the situation worse. It starts with mild strain or pain in the knees and gradually a time comes when you can’t even walk properly. There is an important relationship that your knees share with your weight. Let’s have a look at it.

Relationship between weight and knees

Imagine walking on a plain level field. The amount of force your knees are getting might be around 1.5 times your body weight. When you’re standing it is only your body weight but while walking the force increases. So an average 70 kg person is putting more than 100 kg weight on his knees when he’s walking. Now if the ground is inclined, the force increases. With the angle of the slope, it might go 2-3 times of the body weight or more. When you do leg exercises like squats or lunges, the force might be around 4-5 times of the body weight.

This is the kind of strain you’re putting on your knees during different activities. Now a healthy person has his weight in the normal range of BMI. His knees are made to absorb and tolerate the force he’s putting on his knees. When your weight exceeds the normal range, the strain on the knees also increases. When a person whose weight should be 70 kg weighs 100 kg, the force on his knees goes upto 150 kg. The knees might take it for a little time. But when you put your knees through this for a long time, they aren’t able to put up.

This is when the pain starts. And this pain leads to complications. Osteoarthritis is not very far away after this. Your knees are made to withstand the normal pressure. Not exceeding pressure. This excess weight shortens its lifespan. They are worn out way earlier than they should. In addition to this, the inflammatory factors also make the joints swollen and contribute to trouble in joints.

The simplest solution is maintaining a proper weight. If you do that, you are saved from a lifetime of pain. If your knees have started troubling you, you need to consult the experts in the field to guide you and treat you properly. At Radiance Hospitals, we have specialized doctors who have helped many patients with their knee pain. Contact us for knee pain now.

If you don’t take proper care after your joint replacement surgery, you might end up having more complications and pain. Recovering after joint replacement surgery is challenging but not impossible. If you follow a proper post-surgery regime, you can restore complete mobility to your joint. The first few days might be painful and tiring but with the help of your loved ones, you can make a complete recovery.

Joint replacement surgery has a success rate of almost 95%. Post-operative care plays a huge role in this number. If you don’t want to end up being those 5% people, you need to make a post-operative plan even before the surgery. Here are some tips to follow after surgery for a quicker recovery.

Make your home compatible with your situation

You need to make adjustments to your home according to the limitations of your mobility. You can take the help of your family to do it. Everything should be easily accessible. You should strictly avoid taking stairs or lifting anything heavy. Your room should have:

• A western toilet
• A bed that is knee high
• Pillows for elevation
• Ice packs for the joint
• Properly arranged medications
• A walker or a stick
• Comfortable clothing
• Easy controls on lights and fans

Do some light household chores?

Your joint needs to heal but it also needs some movement from time to time. If you just lay down all day, the joint can get stiff. Household chores are not completely out of bounds after the surgery. You can do light work and keep the joints moving. It helps take your mind off the surgery and helps increase mobility. But it is important to not overdo anything. You are not supposed to do the work like you used to. Ease into your work slowly. These light chores can be dusting, cutting vegetables and making your bed. Washing clothes and lifting heavy things is highly prohibited.

Take help of a physiotherapist

You need to keep the joint moving. Little walks around the house are useful but don’t limit yourself to that. Physiotherapy increases the speed of recovery drastically. A professional physiotherapist knows which exercises need to be done and how. He knows what kind of exercises will help you the most and he will closely guide you through them. He can also monitor your progress and change your exercise routine based on the progress you’ve done. You can also learn some light stretches from a physiotherapist to do on your own when he’s not with you.

Eat homemade wholesome meals

After the surgery, your medication might include important vitamins and minerals. But that is not a substitute of a healthy diet. After the surgery, you must have homemade wholesome meals every day. Put a hold to food ordering for a while. Have homemade food as long as you’re in recovery. A well balanced diet complements the exercises and helps you recover faster. Try to include all four food groups in your diet throughout the day. A healthy diet accelerates your recovery and improves your overall health.

You can get to your normal routine after about 3 months. Complete recovery differs from person to person. You can expect it after about 6 months from the surgery. It might seem a really long time to get back on your feet but when it comes to your good health, you can’t afford to take any risk. You need a hospital that provides complete care from surgery to post-operative care. Radiance hospital provides complete patient care to successfully recover from joint replacement surgery. Contact Radiance hospital now.

Our bones attach to each other at a joint, where strong tissues called tendons and ligaments help connect the bones. It is common for such joints to experience stress as we age. But it is pertinent to note that weight too plays a role along with age. Every pound of excess weight exerts about 4 pounds of extra pressure on knees. This means that if a person is 100 pounds overweight then the knees undergo 400 pounds of excess pressure. “Fat” itself is such an active tissue that releases such chemicals which promote inflammation. Researchers have also found that hand osteoarthritis (OA) is more common amongst obese people.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, the average onset of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is between the ages of 30 and 60, and children can also get it. RA is a chronic condition that progresses over time with periods of increased disease activity, called flares and periods of remission.

In 1971, the number of cases of arthritis primarily caused by obesity was at 3 %. By 2002, that number had increased six-fold to 18 %. An obese has a 60 % greater risk of getting arthritis than people who maintain healthy body weight. A study examined the factors contributing to total knee and hip replacements in people between the ages of 18 – 50. A remarkable 72 % of those who underwent joint replacement surgery were obese.

Bariatric or Metabolic surgery can prove to be very beneficial for joints too. For 0.5 kgs lost, 2.5 kgs of pressure on joints are reduced. Other benefits are pain reduction, increased mobility, better outcome after a joint replacement surgery etc. Bariatric surgery can be considered the best way for a joint replacement.

1. Sleeve Gastrectomy- Reduces the stomach to approximately 15 % of its original size.
2. Gastric Bypass-The surgery changes the absorption rate of food, as well as decreasing the amount that can be ingested.
3. Robotic Surgery

Orthopaedic surgeons themselves are referring more patients for consideration of bariatric surgery in anticipation of future elective procedures.

Many patients pursue bariatric surgery for improvement in their physical image and somatic health improvement. Health-related quality of life improves after bariatric surgery & long-term improvements are positively associated with the long-term amount of weight reduction leading to less joint problems.

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