Effective Treatment Options for Knee Pain
Is knee pain keeping you from doing the things you need and love to do? Our effective treatment options for knee pain can significantly improve your mobility and quality life.
7 Winter Wellness Tips for Managing Your Arthritis Pain
Having arthritis can take a bit of the cheer out of the new year. As cold and damp steadily worsen in January, so do arthritis symptoms like inflammation and pain. When the temperature plummets, it helps to be prepared to protect your joints.
Ajay Kumar, MD, and our team at New Jersey Advanced Pain Management Center provide diagnosis and effective treatment options for arthritis. Here are our best wellness tips for managing arthritis pain during cold winter months.
Arthritis basics
There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. Some of the most common are:
- Osteoarthritis: known as wear-and-tear arthritis, usually affecting people over 50
- Juvenile arthritis: affects patients younger than 16
- Rheumatic arthritis: caused by your immune system attacking your joints
- Ankylosing spondylitis: targets mainly the lower spine
- Psoriatic arthritis: affects people who have the chronic skin condition psoriasis
- Gout: causes crystallization in joints, often starting in the big toe
Regardless of the type of arthritis you have, two of the top symptoms are pain and inflammation, which can cause stiffness and visible swelling. Medical treatments for arthritis range from over-the-counter pain relievers to splints and braces to joint injections and even surgical intervention or joint replacement.
7 tips for managing arthritis pain in winter
When the cold seeps in and your symptoms get worse, you may need to contact your doctor to discuss modifying your arthritis treatment plan. In the meantime, these wellness tips can help.
1. Take any prescribed medication on time
Being late for or missing a dose of pain medication allows breakthrough pain, which can be more challenging to get back under control. If it’s time for your next dose, take it, even if you aren’t feeling too bad yet.
2. Stay warm
It’s OK to go sit on the porch and watch your kids or grandkids play in the snow, but bundle up, wear gloves, take a blanket, and don’t stay out too long. Inside, keep the rooms you spend the most time in warm and toasty, and wear long underwear under your clothes or pajamas if necessary.
3. Use heat therapy
A heating pad or blanket can help reduce pain, but don’t overdo it. Give yourself breaks between sessions of heat by setting a timer and shutting the heating device off for 20 minutes every 20 minutes.
4. Eat a balanced diet
Consume plenty of fruits and veggies to get anti-inflammatory antioxidants and vitamin C. Choose fish as your protein often, and add seeds and nuts to your snack drawer. Don’t forget herbs and spices when cooking, and remember to include dairy for much-needed vitamin D. The right arthritis diet can help prevent inflammation from worsening.
5. Stay active
There may be days when all you want to do is stay curled up on the couch under a blanket, but try to move around some anyway. The more you stay inactive, the stiffer your joints will get and the more it will hurt when you do have to move.
6. Consider compression or immobilization
If you have one or more specific joints that tend to flare up with pain, consider compression with special gloves for your hands or wraps for your knees to tamp down swelling and discomfort. Immobilizing splints, slings, or braces can help keep a particularly bad joint from moving until pain relief kicks in.
7. Relax
Pain often makes many people tense up, which worsens the pain — a vicious cycle. Find what helps you ease up, whether that’s a hot bath, cuddling with a pet, or even meditation.
Are your arthritis symptoms getting worse this winter, affecting your mobility and quality of life? Contact New Jersey Advanced Pain Management Center in Hackettstown, New Jersey, or Matamoras, Pennsylvania, for a consultation with Dr. Kumar. We help patients regain range of motion and minimize pain with a combination of effective medical treatments and at-home wellness tips.
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