Help for Seniors to Deal with Winter Aches and Pains

Managing Pain during winter

Many seniors are affected with arthritis. Arthritis causes pain and stiffness in the joints. Arthritis is caused by the wear and tear of 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 normal part of aging which are 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 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 with 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 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 with 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 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.

• Spring Meadow – Smyrna, Delaware
• Verona – Highlands Ranch, Colorado
• The Fairways at Savannah Quarters – Pooler, Georgia
• Rockland Glen – Rockland, Massachusetts
• Willow Green – North Hampton, Pennsylvania

Author:

Lisa LaCount writes articles courtesy of ActiveAdultLiving.com, the most comprehensive source of information on Senior living communities in the web. You will find over 5800 listings of 55+ communities such as Rockland Glen in this web site. Those interested in locating an ideal 55 communities to relocate and settle down can benefit from the AAL website which provides precise and comprehensive information on various communities across USA. Like ActiveAdultLiving Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for alerts and posts on lifestyle, price, type of houses and promotions.

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