The Winter Creak
In these winter months it’s easy to feel that a chill has taken hold of your joints and won’t let go. Most likely you are experiencing joint pain that is enhanced by the cold but has another source. Circulation is reduced when your joints are cold and for some of us this can result in fairly bad pain.
Hydrate. Make sure to keep up your water intake. Just because it’s not hot out doesn’t mean that you aren’t sweating. If you are shoveling the driveway and sidewalk you’ll work up a sweat very quickly that you may not notice because it’s being absorbed by your heavy clothes. On top of that, people just tend to drink less water in the winter because they feel cold and don’t want a cold drink. Don’t forget that tea can be very good for hydration in the winter but try to stick to low caffeine teas to aid in this. With the cold chapping your lips it’s easy to miss the physical cause that we would otherwise associate with dehydration.
Massage chairs are a great tool for keeping your muscles from getting too tense and increasing circulation. When you come home and just want to plop down after a hard day trudging through the snow and facing the cold you don’t want to let your body tighten up. Warm up your muscles and joints with a hot shower and then take a seat and relax while keeping the blood flowing. Massage chairs are like a cool down exercise at the end of the day.
Bundle up. I know this seems simple but a lot of people don’t wear gloves because they think it looks silly or because they want to be able to easily use their phones or other handheld devices. You can’t use that phone unless your fingers work so get yourself some good gloves that are waterproof and take them off when you need to use our phone.
Exercise. You need to get the blood flowing and keep it flowing. Make a stretching routine and a little cardio a habit before spending any amount of time in the cold. This will get you ready for the exertion ahead and you’ll actually notice the cold less over all. Beyond that, it’s just a good habit to get into all year round. Maintenance is better than fixing the problem once it arises.
If you just hydrate, bundle up and exercise in preparation for the cold you’ll feel heaps better after duking it out with old Jack Frost. If you don’t have one yet you can start dropping hints about the best massage chairs on the market for your Christmas gift in 2012.
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