5 ways to prevent osteoarthritis when it's cold

Avoid psychological worries, keep warm, exercise reasonably, scientific nutrition and use medicine according to doctor's prescription.

Dr. Vo Khac Khoi Nguyen, Orthopedic Trauma Department, said the cold weather was many people suffer, especially the elderly. Lower temperatures, the body tends to try to store energy, making blood circulation worse than normal. Cold air penetrates into the body through the skin also causes blood vessels in these areas to shrink, reducing circulation of joint fluid. The blood to the joints is limited or very limited, so the lack of anemia nourishes the joints, the synovial membranes and the irritated articular cartilage cause pain.

To prevent osteoarthritis in the cold season, you should take these 5 steps:

Avoid excessive anxiety

Changing the atmospheric pressure of ambient air affects the pressure inside the joint. Therefore, when the weather gets cold, it will cause joint pain. Body tissues, the body's outer layer (skin, tendons, and muscles) tend to shrink, the most obvious manifestation is the appearance of goose bumps when cold is contracted by the hair-raising body. This condition can cause shoulder pain in the back of the neck, knee, foot and arm pain are often painful. Patients with rheumatism may not get up or hold hands tightly due to stiffness in the morning, so many people become anxious.

Before leaving the bed in the morning, the sick person needs to stretch their fingers and legs.

Keep it warm

Need to wear warm enough, use a scarf, gloves, socks. It is important to stay warm before going to bed at night, because the temperature tends to decrease at night and early in the morning. In particular, the joints in the fingers and toes are small joints that are located far away from the body, so they often get the first cold infection compared to larger joints.

Restricting wet limbs, quickly dry people when rain or contact with water. When the joint shows signs of pain, numbness needs to be heated, warming around the sore position with a dryer or hot compress, soaking hot. Hot soaking measures both have the effect of local heat exchanger on the skin, while helping to increase circulation inside, helping to warm the body effectively.

Reasonable warming can be seen as the simplest, simplest measure that everyone can follow under the motto "prevention is better than cure."

Reasonable movement

The cooler the sky, the more likely it is for people to be sedentary. The more bone and joint pain the patient is afraid of moving, leading to more stiff joints and diseases. Therefore, when it is cold or joint pain you still need to exercise appropriately.

People with osteoarthritis tend to have symptoms of stiffness in the morning, especially small joints like the hands and feet. Before leaving the bed in the morning, the sick person needs to stretch their fingers and legs, as well as large joints to ease the feeling of numbness. Stretching also helps blood flow to the joints, after a sleepless night as temporary 'immobilized' joints.

Morning exercise should still be maintained daily. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day and most days of the week. Maintaining exercise, even when it is cold helps maintain the strength of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These are joint stabilizers, which contribute to reducing the weight of the impact on the joint surface, causing joint pain. In addition, exercises in the middle of the work session are also encouraged to apply daily.

The joint shows redness and pain, indicating an acute inflammation. At that time, you should limit movement, do not rub oil, squeeze alcohol because it can aggravate the inflammation.

Proper nutrition

Patients should eat foods high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, tuna, vitamins A, E, C found in soybeans, green vegetables, seeds, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, butter .

Limiting alcohol, hearty parties can cause a gout attack (especially in gout patients) and aggravate joint pain.

Drink enough water every day. The body lacks water can cause blood condensation, reducing blood circulation to nourish joints, especially distant joints (hands, feet). Encourage taking warm food and drink because it will add heat to warm the body.

Use the medicine as directed

Common painkillers do not manage pain within 1-3 days, symptoms tend to be more severe. Should see a specialist for effective management.