Battling Arthritis Pain: 4 Ways to Stay Warm and Relieve Winter Joint Pain

The cold, crisp days of fall are a sweet relief after a hot summer, but these pleasant days turn all too quickly into the cold of winter. If you are still toughing it out in a colder climate, the frigid days of winter can be challenging to face. Especially if you have joint pain or other health problems, colder temperatures can be a real drag. And with this increased need for pain management, many resort to an increase in pain medication, which has adverse side effects.

The good news is that there are plenty of low-cost, easy, and natural ways to stay warm inside and reduce chronic pain brought on by the cold air outside. We've compiled these four cheap ways to keep warm in the winter and reduce pain from arthritis and other medical conditions.

Stay Hydrated

Arthritis can flare up when even mild dehydration takes place. Arthritis causes you to be more sensitive to pain signals involved with joint pain. Hydration can be the ultimate natural pain reliever and is an easy regimen to add to daily pain management practices. It helps with warmth by increasing blood blow in your body.

Exercise

Consistently exercising can help increase blood flow as well as help in weight loss, which increases arthritis pain. There are many exercise regimens you can do from your living room without having to go outside. Consult your local physical therapist for more tips and exercises for arthritis pain relief.

Use Microwaveable Warm Packs and Wraps

Microwaveable warm packs are an excellent source of heat/warm air and are easily mobile when going out in cold weather. You can heat them and wrap them around your targeted pain point and still be able to go out. Specialized Microwaveable Foot Warmers help reduce body heat loss through your feet without running up your heating bill or using an abundance of socks and blankets. Wraps like these use moist heat therapy, which is a proven method in reducing pain and inflammation brought on from arthritis.

Improve Your Diet

Adding in specific foods that are rich in antioxidants and contain anti-inflammatory components will help you with your joint health. Also adding Vitamin D pills to your diet will lower your sensitivity to your arthritis pain. Here's a list of arthritis-friendly food to start including in your diet.

These tips for staying warm and pain-free in winter are not just temporary solutions; they're long term benefits for pain management.