Plagued by Joint Pain? Why You Shouldn't Ignore It in the New Year

Weather changes like the cold of winter mean finding ways to stay warm and avoid accidents, but it can also make issues with joint pain worse. Start your new year by addressing joint problems before they get the better of you.

Your skeleton may give your body structure and protection for vital organs, but the combination of it and muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and other tissue form the numerous joints that make movement possible. Sadly, damage to these essential parts of the body occurs all too frequently, and winter weather can make it worse.

Joint pain can be debilitating, but it doesn’t have to be. Let the new year give you the opportunity to reduce the impact injuries and weather changes have on your joints. Let’s explore joint problems, why the weather can make things worse, and how to cope.

If you live in Fort Worth, Texas, and you want to make more of an effort to manage joint pain in the new year, let Dr. Joseph Daniels and his experienced staff at Southwest Orthopedic Associates provide treatments and preventive options to help.

Common types of joint pain

A combination of factors leads to developing pain in your joints, such as being overweight, having a history of injuries, overuse of joints, stress, and these medical conditions:

Arthritis: several types of inflammation of the joints that cause wear on the cartilage
Tendinitis: when tendons become inflamed, often in the elbow, heel, or shoulder
Sprains and strains: stretching or pulling of your ligaments and muscles
Bursitis: overuse affecting the bursa, small pockets of fluid in your joints
Gout: a type of arthritis that frequently targets your big toes, causing severe pain

The connection between weather and joint pain

Joint pain often gets worse when it rains or when the seasons change. Some people even claim to be able to predict changes because of joint pain. These experiences are due to barometric changes, when factors such as high humidity, lower air pressure, and strong winds exacerbate existing joint problems.

It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it does happen, and it can make life a bit more miserable on top of the existing joint pain.

How we can help

Whether you’re struggling with just joint pain or problems made worse by weather changes, we have many ways to reduce the impact of the aches and stiffness that come with it:

Physical therapy

Exercises, stretches, and manual massaging techniques help ease joint pain and reduce other symptoms.

Regenerative medicine

If necessary, we can also help your body heal faster with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which infuses your joints with concentrated blood platelets from your own body to speed recovery.

Urgent care

If you have severe pain, fractures, or other immediate medical needs involving joints, our urgent care facility is here to help.

Joint replacement

When joint damage is severe, partial or complete joint replacement can restore full function and reduce joint symptoms.

If you have joint problems, don't let them continue to determine how to live your life; start this new year right by scheduling an appointment with Dr. Daniels and Southwest Orthopedic Associates today to get help.