The weather has suddenly got pretty chilly, and the darker days are rolling in, but what does this mean for our body and our joints? Often, we hear that the ‘cold and damp’ can have a negative effect on our body, but why is this and what can we do to prevent it?

How the cold affects our joints:

When our joints get embraced by the cold, we often start to feel a deep ache within the joint. This is due to the synovial fluid, the natural lubricant between the joint, becoming thicker in the cold. This means the fluid doesn’t move around the joint as easily, meaning it is more likely to feel sore. The muscles around our joints become tighter and stiffer in the cold too, meaning they really tighten around the joints themselves and cause pain.

How do we behave in the cold?

What is the first response when you feel chilly? We lift our shoulders up, wrap our arms around ourselves and typically move much more slowly. These factors really influence our joints and mean we tighten and stiffen up more quickly, which adds to the lack of the synovial fluid movement around the joint. Basically, our natural reaction to the cold means we feel achiness in our joints more easily too.

Our mood also gets affected by the cold, meaning we are less likely to get out and move around more.

What can we do to help with this?

Move! Even if you don’t feel like it

Getting out for a walk and moving around will really help keep the synovial fluid moving around your joints and prevents that achiness building up.

Take supplements:

Fish oils, glucosamine, and chondroitin, are all great options to take to help maintain joint health.

Get as much sun as you can

If it is sunny, try and get yourself out in it; not only will this help to exercise your joints, but the vitamin D is great for joint health and also great for your mood.

If the pain is persisting it might be time to seek conservative care

Chiropractic and massage therapy is excellent for helping aching joints, especially shoulders, knees and hips, as well as your typical neck and back pain. We might help bridge the gap between what you can do, and the pain itself.