Dealing with Winter Pains

Do you suffer from unexplained pains and cramps as winter rolls in? Do the dropping temperatures leave you achy and sore? Do you dread the coming of cold and snow? If so, you’re not alone. Joint pain has an odd way of flaring up in the colder seasons, and many people feel its effects. While they may seem like yet another seasonal burden, the truth is that there’s a lot you can do to mitigate cold and winter pains. We’d like to explore the various ways you can make your winter more comfortable.

Why is Winter Painful?

There are multiple reasons why the colder seasons are painful, and not much in the way of medical consensus on which are most important. Among the top causes are the following three:

• Cold temperatures slowing down the body’s circulation. As the temperature drops, the body tries to preserve heat in the vital organs, reducing the amount of blood flowing through the body’s extremities. This has the knock-on effect of making your joints more vulnerable to the cold, and thus achier and more uncomfortable.
  
• Constriction brought on by cold temperatures. For those with pre-existing conditions like arthritis in particular, dropping temperatures can cause discomfort in the nerves of your joints. This is due to the muscles and tendons contracting, leading to compression of the nerves. As your muscles and tendons contract, your nerves pick up on it and respond with pain signals. When the muscle and tendon contraction is too strong, this results in the cramping symptoms that plague the winter months.
  
• Plain and simple inactivity. This one’s something we’re all guilty of, especially when the cold gets really bad. Sometimes it’s just easier to stay indoors all day, curling up in a blanket on the sofa or bed, even if you end up sore and achy from lying around as a result!
  

What can you do for your Winter Pains?

Fortunately, there are many methods of mitigating winter pain that just about anyone can practice.

Give your body a nice and cozy rest

According to Traditional Chinese Medicinal wisdom, every season has a specific resting pattern. In winter, the ideal resting hours are from 9 PM to 7 AM, going to sleep early and waking up a little later. This is because your body needs more time to recover during the winter. Due to the coldness of the environment, the body spends more energy keeping itself warm and working. The metabolic process also becomes slower, extending the amount of time it takes for your body to heal itself. It’s very important to keep a healthy balance between keeping active and avoiding unnecessary strain.

Stay Warm!

As we mentioned above, cold has a tendency to slow down your circulation and constrict your nerves. To offset this, consider employing devices like heating pads or paraffin baths to compensate for poor circulation or low-temperature environments. A particularly good tool for this purpose is the foot bath! Bathing your feet in warm/hot water dilates small blood vessels, increasing blood flow to the rest of the body. This can be beneficial for dealing with lower-body pains. It’s also a great way to calm and relax the mind, so it’s an excellent remedy for those suffering from anxiety or insomnia.

Keep moving

Do some slow workouts, outdoor is the best, namely walking after lunch or dinner. If going outdoors is not possible, try these indoor exercises. There are many exercises that can be done in the comfort of your own home, from the familiar practices of jumping jacks and jump-rope to exercise-biking and yoga. Yoga in particular helps not just with your physical health, but with your internal balance as well. Whatever you’re doing, the key takeaway is to keep moving. Your body will not thank you if you don’t push it a little.

These are all things that you can do to mitigate your cold weather pains without needing to go to the doctor. Most can be done within the comfort of your own home, and few require any kind of training or practice in order to effectively pull off. However, you may find yourself still wanting a little more relief.

How Tzu Chi Clinic Can Help You with Winter Pain and Cramps

To take the extra edge off of winter, our practitioners have a few treatments that could suit your needs. We believe that your body is an integrated whole, and that maintaining the balance within that whole is necessary for a healthy life. We specialize in acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, and bleeding therapy. These modalities of treatment can:

• Reduce inflammation in the muscle or the joints for pain management
• Improve circulation to help nourish and repair injuries
• Calm the mind for stress and pain alleviation
• Balance the internal organs for symptom prevention

To get away from your pains.