Wondering why your joints are stiff? Let’s delve into some of the reasons why!
- Age – As we get older the cartilage in your joints begins to dry out and stiffen. Your body also makes less synovial fluid. Both of these things cause your joints to not move as freely as they used to.1
- Time of day – Some research shows that joint stiffness may be worse in the morning due to a correlation between inflammation and a person’s circadian clock.2 Circadian rhythms regulate several daily activities including sleep and immune functions with related conditions including Rheumatoid Arthritis.3
- Osteoarthritis – The ends of your bone are covered in cartilage. Over time this wears away and when it’s gone the bones can hit each other, and sometimes, tiny pieces break off. The result is a stiff, swollen, painful joint.1
- Rheumatoid Arthritis – Sometimes your immune system attacks the lining of your joints (the synovium). RA is most likely to affect your wrist or finger joints, but it can show up anywhere in your body. It often causes constant pain and stiffness.1
- A change in weather – Although no research supports this theory either way, some people say that their joint pain is worse when the weather changes
How can you relieve stiff joints?
Osteoarthritis
If you suffer from osteoarthritis the NHS recommends ‘lifestyle measures such as maintaining a healthy weight, taking medication like ibuprofen, and supportive therapies that can help to make your everyday life easier’4.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
If you suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis there are treatments that can help to reduce inflammation in the joints, relieve pain, prevent or slow down joint damage, reduce disability and enable you to be as active as possible.5
Some of these include:
- Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) – These medicines ease the symptoms of the condition and slow down its progression
- Biological treatments – These are usually taken in combination with DMARDs. They are given by injection, they work by stopping particular chemicals in your blood from activating your immune system to attack your joints
- Pain Killers – Including paracetamol, codeine or ibuprofen
- Steroids – These can help to reduce pain, stiffness and inflammation
- Supportive treatments – These can include physiotherapy or occupational therapy
- Surgery
Weather changes
If you suffer from stiff joints when the weather drops, try to keep yourself warm. Take warm baths, dress in layers during the day (including gloves and warm socks), use an electric blanket at night, or turn up your heating!
Flarin 200mg soft capsules & Flarin Joint & Muscular Pain Relief 200 mg Soft Capsules. Contain ibuprofen. Relief from rheumatic or muscular pain, joint pain, back pain. Flarin 200mg soft capsules is also indicated for the pain of non-serious arthritic conditions. Always read the label.
Source
- https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/ss/slideshow-stiff-joints?ecd=wnl_spr_101421_remail&ctr=wnl-spr-101421-remail_supportTop_cta_2&mb=9w%2FPxefl4rtGdUDe9igqsA1RNK7ZL4nWHQqJuXgjOY0%3D
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321588#causes
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30227223/#:~:text=In%20RA%20the%20circadian%20rhythms,are%20peaking%20at%20late%20night.
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteoarthritis/treatment/
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/treatment/
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