Help for Seniors to Deal with Winter Aches and Pains

Extra soreness and pain are almost guaranteed in senior lives during the cold winter months. If you have arthritis, welcome to the world of pain. Apart from arthritis pain, you may be plagued with colds, flu, and all other ailments that occur in winter. Although winter is a time of joy, your aches and pains can significantly hamper your joy towards the season. So, are you ready to give in and feel sick or would you wish to battle it out and come out winning?

Managing Pain During Winter

Many seniors are affected by arthritis. Arthritis causes pain and stiffness in the joints. Arthritis is caused by the wear and tear of the cartilage in a joint. This causes elasticity loss in the joints and causes the bones to rub together resulting in severe pain. The cause of arthritis flare-ups during winter is unknown. Pain with arthritis, especially during the cold, long winter months can be minimized by staying as active as possible during the rest of the year and taking prescribed medication. Winter arthritis pain can also be alleviated or minimized by dressing warmly with layers of clothes that help trap the heat. You should also consider the application of hot/cold compresses to soothe these aches and pains. The hot /cold compresses are also beneficial for all other forms of aches and pains that are the normal part of aging which is aggravated by cold weather.

How to Avoid Aches and Pains during Winter

Apart from arthritis pain, you may experience other aches and pains during winter. These pains could be due to a lack of Vitamin D in your body. Deficiencies in Vitamin D are found to cause muscle aches and pains. Therefore, you should consider foods high in Vitamin D or supplements. Fish such as salmon, tuna, sardine, and mackerel are rich sources of Vitamin D. Also consider eating mushrooms, egg yolks (watch out for the cholesterol), and liver to increase your daily requirement of Vitamin D. If you suffer from arthritis, you will be benefited by taking Omega-3 supplement capsules, as well as, foods high in Omega-3, to prevent the aches and pains caused during winter. If you are on any blood thinners, you should not take Omega-3. Speak to your doctor about what you can take to avoid or minimize winter aches and pains. Aches and pains can also occur with the activities you do during winter. For example, shoveling snow is a necessary yet backbreaking task. Many seniors suffer from aches and pains after this activity. To avoid this, you can begin by stretching as you would before a workout. Keep shoveling while it is snowing as for this way, you do not shovel heavy loads at once. Consider using a small shovel so you do not stress your back out. Bend the knees when lifting and pushing to avoid back pains.

Retirement Communities to Prevent Aches and Pains

Aches and pains from doing all the winter work of shoveling snow can be forgotten for good if you lived in a maintenance-free active adult community. You can say bye-bye to painful, backbreaking tasks such as these, as there are people to do this for you. Or you can also consider moving to a community in a sunnier region of the country. Below are some maintenance-free communities to consider.

• Fox Hills Condominiums – Rockaway, NJ
• Heather Gardens – Aurora, CO
• Heritage Shores – Bridgeville, DE
• The Village at Deaton Creek by Del Webb – Hoschton, GA

Many more maintenance-free active adult communities are available at ActiveAdultLiving.com. Why not visit our website and learn all you need to choose your ideal retirement home? You can be sure your aches and pains will be greatly minimized if you moved into a maintenance-free community. A choice of a community in the sunny states will also be a great way to chase the pains away.