How does cold weather affect your knees? Expert shares essential tips to manage knee pain

Winter can be tough on your joints, especially your knees, as cold weather often triggers stiffness and pain. This article aims to highlight how cold affects your joints and ways to keep your knees healthy and comfortable throughout the season.

The coldness in the weather during the winter can bring along unwelcome guests such as joint pain. The cold weather can significantly hamper your joint health, especially the knees. As the temperature starts to drop the muscles and tendons around your knees become stiff. This can negatively reduce blood circulation while causing inflammation and extreme discomfort. Individuals with existing joint conditions like arthritis should be cautious as the cold weather can increase their knee pain while affecting mobility. Physical inactivity during the winter can lead to reduced range of motion which can stiffen your knees making it difficult to make even the slightest movements. When we spoke to Dr Satish Kale, Orthopedic Surgeon, Apollo Spectra Pune, he said that taking proactive steps to protect your joints can help you stay pain-free this winter.

How Cold Weather Affects Your Knees?

Reduced blood circulation: The blood vessels can narrow down during the winter which can reduce the blood flow to the joints. It can make your joints stiff while increasing sensitivity towards pain. To prevent this, wear warm layers or use heating pads to keep your knees warm.

Muscle stiffness around joints: Stiffness around the joints is common during the winter. This can further lead to a lack of physical activity. Individuals are advised to stay physically active by exercising regularly. Ensure that you do stretching or a good warm-up before beginning your workout regime to keep the muscles relaxed while preventing the risk of stiffness.

Joint fluid thickens: The synovial fluid present in your joints can thicken in the colder temperature. Over time, it can increase joint stiffness and also reduce lubrication. This can be prevented by staying active. Exercising regularly can help enhance your joint flexibility and lubrication.

Lack of Physical Activity: During winter people prefer staying indoors due to chilly weather. This can lead to physical inactivity in many. Not staying active can make the muscles that are responsible for supporting your knees weak. It can put extreme strain on your joints making it an unbearable experience. If you don’t wish to go outdoors, then performing light exercises and stretches at home can help improve your joint health.

Knee pain is common during winter. Many people are seen complaining about excruciating pain in their knees as the weather becomes chilly. The sudden drop in the temperature can make your joints stiff while causing pain and discomfort. Extreme knee pain can make it difficult to perform day-to-day activities, resulting in a reduced range of motion. 

Tips for Managing Knee Pain in winter

Keep moving: Staying physically active can help you prevent joint-related pain or stiffness. Engaging in low-impact and gentle activities like walking, swimming, yoga, jogging, stretching, or cycling can be helpful. It helps improve the blood flow while keeping your knees flexible. If you are suffering from knee pain then avoid high-impact exercises.

Maintain a healthy weight: The key to preventing knee pain in winter is to maintain a healthy weight. Excessive weight can put additional strain on your knees which can cause intense pain and discomfort. Focus more on maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating a balanced diet and staying physically active.

Stay warm and layer up: During the cold weather, it becomes crucial to stay warm and wear clothes accordingly. Your clothes should be warm to keep your knees warm in the cold. Dress up in warm layers to keep you cosy in winter. You can even use a heating pad to stay warm in this chilly weather. Warm showers can help ease knee pain and also improve blood circulation.

Gentle knee massages: Regularly massaging your knees can help soothe the pain. You can gently massage your knees with warm oil for 5 to 10 minutes. One can use a variety of oils for massaging such as coconut oil, or mustard oil. Individuals are advised to massage in a circular motion to relax the stiff muscles around the joints. Massaging not only boosts blood circulation but also reduces pain.

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