Tips for Managing Arthritis Flare-Ups During Cold Weather

If you have arthritis, you know how distracting the pain can be. When it’s cold outside and arthritis flares up, it’s tough to keep up with daily routines. Going for a walk when your knees are aching more than usual becomes something you’d rather avoid. Yet, easing back on exercise makes it worse. Premium Sports and Orthopedics has tips to help you manage arthritis this winter.

Why Does Arthritis Flare Up in Cold Weather?

Have you ever wondered why arthritis flares up when it’s cold and snowy, cold and rainy, or just downright cold? When temperatures decline, synovial fluid in your body thickens with the colder temperatures. Synovial fluid is made up of the following:

• Collagenases (breaks down collagen)
• Hyaluronic acid (attracts water to tissues, helps regulate inflammation, and helps cells move and heal)
• Lubricin (helps lubricate cartilage)
• Prostaglandins (helps with pain signals and inflammatory response)
• Proteinase (regulates cell health and tissue remodeling)

They work together to lubricate and cushion the ends of each bone that forms a joint. If that already thick fluid thickens even more, the friction in your joint increases, which leads to increased pain.

Another problem is that cold temperatures slow your blood circulation, which can increase your body’s sensitivity to pain. Joints also respond to changes in atmospheric pressure. All of this works together to worsen arthritis in the winter.

Our Best Tips for Easing Weather-Related Arthritis Pain

Understanding why you ache more helps, but you also need to know what to do when the weather cools down. Follow these tips to get some relief from arthritis pain in the winter.

Ask About Vitamin D

A vitamin D supplement is often recommended in the wintertime, even in areas that get some sun. Your body doesn’t make vitamin D, it absorbs it from the sun. To get enough, you need the skin to absorb direct sunlight, and most people cover up in the winter. For that reason, vitamin D deficiencies are common.

Vitamin D plays an important role in bone and muscle health. Signs of a deficiency include bone and muscle pain, fatigue, pins-and-needle sensation in the feet and hands, increased pain sensitivity, mood changes (particularly depression), and walking with more of a waddle than a usual stride.

It’s possible to get a test to check your vitamin D levels. This is recommended to ensure you’re getting enough vitamin D. If not, a doctor will recommend supplements.

Choose Foods That Help With Inflammation

A healthy diet will help keep your bones, joints, and muscles in better shape. Avoid all processed foods as much as possible. Aim for a diet that’s a balance of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, dairy, and grains. Some foods are helpful when it comes to arthritis and joint health.

The Arthritis Foundation recommends the Mediterranean diet when it comes to controlling inflammation. One of the reasons why is that it focuses on fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, leafy greens, and olive oil. The recommendations are:

• 1 cup of beans twice a week, such as pinto beans or red kidney beans
• 1.5 ounces of nuts each day, especially almonds, pistachios, and walnuts
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil each day
• 3 to 4 ounces of fish twice each week, especially salmon, sardines, and tuna
• 6 ounces of grains each day, such as brown rice, bulgur, farro, and quinoa
• 9 or more cups of fruits and vegetables each day (aim for a mix of colors)

Meal planning ensures you get a balanced diet, and there are many meal plans and recipes online. Use them to find favorites and see if this helps ease your arthritis pain.

Consider PRP and Stem Cell Treatments

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cell treatments are two options for helping aid in cellular healing with your joints. They help with injury repair, but they also help ease pain and inflammation from arthritis. 

What’s important to know is that you’re not getting someone else’s plasma or stem cells. The procedure is done using blood drawn from you. It’s then separated in the lab and the stem cells or PRP injections are then given to you in your affected joint.

Keep Warm

When you are outside, dress in layers to ensure you’re warm enough. If you have warm joints, the lubricating fluids can do their job more effectively. You may want to wrap achy joints in a bandage to better insulate them from the cold. 

Lose Weight if Needed

If you’re overweight, the extra pounds put more strain on your joints. Losing weight is hard, there’s no denying it. It can also be frustrating as you lose weight, hit a point where you plateau, and nothing you do is helping you shed more pounds. 

Work with a doctor who specializes in medical weight loss programs. With a doctor’s supervision, you’ll get to your target weight in time. Just remember that it’s taken you years to reach this weight, so it can take years to lose it again.

Stay Active

Painful joints often lead to you wanting to skip any activities. It’s understandable that if you feel pain, you want to take it easy. The problem is that stiff joints need to be active to help lubricate them. Staying active is important, even though it may be difficult.

Take an over-the-counter NSAID, such as ibuprofen, to ease inflammation and pain. Then, head outside for a walk, bike ride, or other favorite winter activity. Just make sure you are staying active and not letting your joints freeze up from inactivity.

Warm-up Before an Activity

Before you participate in any indoor or outdoor activity, complete a warm-up. You need your heart pumping and muscles warmed up before hitting the slopes, playing a game with friends, or heading out on a hike. 

Also, don’t forget to cool down when you’re done. If you stop playing abruptly and don’t give your body a chance to slow down, it can make your muscles ache more.

Wear Supportive Shoes With Plenty of Grip

One of the last things you want is to go for a walk on a colder day and slip on a wet surface. If there is any snow or ice in a higher elevation, a fall while hiking could be devastating. Make sure you’re wearing shoes that support your feet and ankles and also have the traction you need. 

When hiking, a pair of waterproof hiking boots are great. If there is any chance of snow or ice, consider adding a product like Yaktrax that attaches to the bottom of your shoe. The spikes give you extra traction.

Book an Appointment With an Arthritis Specialist

Most importantly, book an appointment with Premium Sports and Orthopedics. When you partner with a specialist in arthritis pain, you can discuss treatment options like stem cell or PRP injections, lose weight, or strengthen muscles to better support your achy joints.