Avoid pain flares this winter
By Patricia Delzell, M.D., Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine Consultants, Inc.
A touch of fall is in the air and that means cooler days are not far away. Unfortunately, colder temperatures and the isolation of winter can lead to pain flares, usually of old joint or muscle injuries. This is why it is so important to keep moving even if your body doesn’t want to move.
Here are a few specific actions to help you avoid pain flares in muscles and minimize painful flareups:
• Take a break from excessive sitting by walking around—a lot.
• Hydration is essential. Make sure you drink about three bottles of water a day.
• Are there any non-drug pain relievers that worked for you in the past? Make a list and keep it handy. These might include moist heat, massage, self-trigger point release, botanical teas, light therapy, topical gels or creams or electrical stimulation.
• Keep your muscles as warm and supple as possible, especially in fall and winter. If you are chronically cold, your muscles will tense up and worsen your chronic pain.
• Consider meditation. Lookup YouTube videos for meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga. Following along can help relax your muscles.
• Try hot tea to keep you warm from the inside out.
A relatively new form of treatment for musculoskeletal pain and peripheral neuropathy is Infrared (IR) laser therapy, which accelerates cellular metabolism to relieve pain in tendons, nerves, muscles, ligaments, and fascia, as well as increasing healing in post-operative patients. It has also been shown to help patients suffering with painful peripheral neuropathy, muscle tension, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, chronic knee injury pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, acute hand and wrist sprains, TMJ, sciatica and more. Call our office to find out if you are a candidate for IR laser therapy.
Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine Consultants’ new offices are at 8401 Chagrin Rd., Suite 20A, in Chagrin Falls. To schedule a pain consultation, call 440-557-5011 to schedule an evaluation. Visit AdvancedMMC.com for more info, including blogs and videos.