There are some things that go hand-in-hand with winter. Open fires. Chestnuts. Snowmen. Flu.

There’s no denying that winter is a time of year when extra focus should be on your health and continued wellness. In fact, the cold weather itself presents some unique challenges to your health beyond the dreaded arrival of cold and flu season.

Instead of hunkering down this winter under some blankets, television remote in hand and fuzzy socks covering your toes, consider the ways in which chiropractic care can help you stay healthy this winter and how you can support your efforts to stay healthy outside the chiropractor’s office, too.

Fa-La-La-La Joint Pain

Remember how your grandpa’s knee was a great predictor of a snowstorm? Well, that’s not just something he liked to complain about as he sipped on his favorite bottle of Sarsaparilla. Cold weather has a real impact on the joints and can make joint pain you experience that much worse!

As the air gets colder outside, the barometric pressure and temperature outside causes the fluid in your joints to move less freely. The fluid in your joints normally acts as a lubricant to help the joint function as it should, but when the cold weather hits, your joints become stiff and even painful. That’s right, your frozen shoulder may be the result of actual freezing temperatures outside.

Chiropractic care can help to keep your joints moving freely, restoring your range of motion and hopefully reducing pain in the process. Dr. Zeh perform hands-on chiropractic adjustments to the joints to help the fluid do its job.

Sitting in a Winter Wonderland

Have you ever really stopped to wonder why the biggest New Year’s resolution seems to be joining a gym or losing a few pounds? It’s not simply because of all those holiday cookies and family dinners you’ve been feasting on for six weeks straight. No, the weather outside is partly to blame.

Inactivity is a big issue in the winter months for many people. It’s difficult to motivate yourself to leave the house when it’s a balmy 3 degrees out, let alone hit the gym. But this lack of activity and movement has an impact on your health, causing increased weight that leads to increased stress on your joints.

Regular chiropractic adjustments give you an excuse to leave your house and help keep your body performing its best so that more injuries or health conditions don’t set you back even further.

Skip the New Year’s resolutions that don’t really get kept anyway and make a commitment to yourself to move more, even if it just means walking in place for a few minutes during each commercial break or doing squats when you get up to go to the bathroom. Every little bit counts toward your 20 to 30 minutes of moderate activity each day.

What You Can Do

Seeing your chiropractor to help you keep your body in optimal shape is one very important thing you can do, but you can also:

  • Stay active – Participate in some form of physical activity in the winter, no matter how frightful the weather is outside.
  • Wear the right clothes – Keep your body (and joints) warm and protected from the cold. You also need to make sure you have the right shoes so you don’t risk falls in the slippery condition outdoors.
  • Eat right – A properly balanced diet full of lean protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight to take some of the stress off your joints and provide your body with what it needs to work its best.

You wouldn’t go outside without your coat, so don’t head into the coldest days of winter without chiropractic care. Think of it as another layer to your good health. Be proactive this winter and your joints will thank you.

Posted in Common Conditions

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