Now the warm days have gone and the colder months are on their way there is a chance that you may start to notice more aches and pains.
You are not alone in this, in fact we hear clients of ours ask the same question….”Is it an old wives tale that joint pain is affected by the weather?”
Well you are not imagining it and you are not going mad. Let me introduce to you Ian, age 45 (from Benfleet). Ian called my clinic and told me that over the last few days his knee pain had started to flare up for no apparent reason.
Ian told me that his knees are agony first in the morning and it takes him a good 15-20 minutes to get them moving. He also told me that after a day at work his knees are worse and this is especially so in the colder weather. Now Ian is a brick layer so has a very active job and has to climb ladders and bend down a lot in his day and both of these he is struggling with.
This is no surprise to me….
Last year we were flooded with clients complaining of chronic knee pain during the Autmn and Winter months. The one common thing they all said was they didn’t understand why they felt good in the summer and now their pain is back.
So why does this happen?…
Let me explain. As the weather gets colder the drop in temperature can cause our joints to swell up, leading to inflammation and we feel this as pain and stiffness!
You are now all thinking, right ok so now I know why my knees hurt in the cold but what can I do about it?
Let me share with you three REALLY SIMPLE tips that you can start to use today to help you cope with your knee pain during the colder months….
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Use Ice & Heat
Ice is by far the best way to ease knee pain. Apply an ice pack for 10-15 minutes, little and often is best (so every 1-2 hours). If you don’t have an ice pack at home wrap a bag of peas in a damp towel. Never place ice straight on to your skin or you could give yourself an ice burn.
And when to use heat – my tip would be to apply a hot water bottle on a morning when your knee is likely to be feeling more stiff, than painful. 10-15 minutes will be enough.
If however; you find heat works better for you than ice then go with heat as your natural pain reliever. Again 10-15 minutes will be fine and little and often is key.
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Sleep with a pillow between your knees
This may be difficult at first, but if you can persist, it lowers the amount of rotation/ twisting happening at your knee joint.
If you sleep on your side, try a pillow between your legs to keep your knee joint aligned.
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Avoid Sitting Cross Legged
Closely linked to the above. Your knee joint isn’t designed to twist or turn. And sitting in a cross-legged position is doing just that. In this position, your joints are twisted, muscles stretched and you’re vulnerable to injury.
Spending an excess of time in this position will catch up on you – usually aged 40-60 in the form of unwanted noises like click clunk and crack – and more swelling than most other people your age.
If you want some more tips on how to avoid knee pain click the link below where you can download a completely free report on ways to ease chronic knee pain naturally: http://www.wdcphysiotherapy.co.uk/physiotherapy/knee-pain/
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[ebs_iconheading type=”h4″ style=”glyphicon-user” icontype=”glyphicon”][/ebs_iconheading] About the Author
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About Wendy McCloud
Wendy is the founder of The South East’s Leading Specialist Private Physiotherapy Practice for People in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, who want to keep healthy and active.
Wendy’s background includes working as an Extended Scope Practitioner Physiotherapist working as part of Mr. Ali Al-Sabti’s Orthopaedic Consultant’s team specialising in Shoulder Pain.
Wendy has treated royalty for Shoulder pain through referrals from her close links with a top Orthopaedic Shoulder Surgeons. More recently Wendy has been the sole choice physiotherapist for all Essex based referrals from London Shoulder surgeon Mr. Matthew Sala.
Wendy worked in National Level Rugby Union for 11 years, working with players who achieved county honours and representative honours for various countries such as England, Samoa, Australia and New Zealand. Wendy resigned from her position as Head Physiotherapist at Southend RFC in June 2011 to open WDC which has become the fastest growing clinic in the South East of England.
WDC is now a large multi-therapist speciality practice in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
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