What Is The Cause Of Knee And Joint Pain In Cold Weather

Winter is the season of bone pains, and people who suffer from knee and joint injuries are bound to experience pain during these cold months. Here are causes as to why knee and joint pains occur in the winter, and should you go to a knee specialist.

Change Of Blood Circulation

Your blood is responsible for keeping your body temperature regulated. It supplies blood to all vital organs and to each part of your body to help them stay at a regular and maintained temperature. This is easy to do in the hotter months. But as the season changes from summer to fall, then winter, it becomes hard for your blood to maintain and regulate the body temperature. It starts to supply more and more blood to your vital organs like your heart, lungs and brain, to keep them warm, but it can sometimes neglect your bones and joints.

So, if your bones and joints are not getting enough blood in the already colder months, the affected areas will not be able to regulate their temperature and it can cause contraction in the bones and muscles, which gives rise to pain in the knees and joints.

Routine Changes

During winter, there might be some lifestyle and routine changes which take place. Either you are waking up at a different time, you are not getting too much exposure to the sun since the days are shorter, you might be feeling more agitated and irritated because of the prickly cold, you mostly stay indoors and your routine might be more stagnant. These changes in lifestyle can lead to radiating pains in the knees and joints, since they are used to your previous routine.

Any small change in your existing routine can lead to changes in your body and your affected knees and joints might feel foreign in this routine, which is why pain begins to occur and your knees and joints become more inflamed or sore.

Cold Weather Causes Inflammation

Cold temperatures can cause contraction in the bones and muscles. This can cause an exertion of a force on your weak knees and joints. The pressure of the atmosphere during the winter can also manipulate with your bones. It can cause a lot of pain. If your bones or joints are not fully recovered, then it can lead to inflammation and pressing of the muscles against your knees and affected bones, which causes you to feel pain.

How To Alleviate Knee And Joint Pain?

Here are some things that you can do to alleviate or prevent radiating knee and joint pains.

Hot Compressing

To help your body maintain its temperature during the colder months, make sure that you are applying a hot compress on the weak knees and joints. This will keep the area warm and it will decrease the amount of contractions your bones or muscles go through, if you are not making an effort in keeping them warm. Also, wearing warm and insulated clothing will help to keep the body heat locked in and will provide sufficient warmth to your body.

Pain And Activity

For people who suffer with knee and joint pains, activity is already limited, but extra care should be taken when it comes to winter. If you are applying too much stress on the already affected area, then the pain might be more excruciating. If you suddenly apply too much exertion or jerk on the knee or joint, the pain can be quite extreme.

Staying Indoors

If the weather is too unbearable to go outdoors, then it’s best if you stay at home and keep your body warm. This is better than overexerting your body and making the pain worse than it already is. If you can, try to stay in your home and close all windows and doors which might give access to cold air. You want to keep yourself protected from the bitter cold wind.

These causes are more like triggers which cause pain to develop in your affected knee or joint. You should try to avoid these triggers as much as possible so that your winter season is comfortable. But if the pain is severe, go to an orthopedic doctor McLean as soon as possible.