Why do my leg bones hurt when it's cold?
As the weather turns cold, barometric pressure drops. The decrease in pressure allows the tissues in your body to expand. This expansion can compress your joints, making it painful to move and flex them.
You may get temporary relief from bone pain by using over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen. Osteomyelitis typically requires treatment with either oral or intravenous antibiotics.
When barometric pressure changes, that can cause our bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments to expand." As a result, joints have less ability to move freely, which can cause pulling and discomfort. Temperature changes affect our joints and muscles.
Barometric Pressure Changes
In warm weather, barometric pressure is high, while cold weather causes barometric pressure to drop. When barometric pressure drops, the tissues in your joint expand slightly, which can result in joint pain.
Most leg pain results from wear and tear or overuse. It also can result from injuries or health conditions in joints, bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves or other soft tissues. Some types of leg pain can be traced to problems in your lower spine.
While bone pain is most likely due to decreased bone density or an injury to your bone, it can also be a sign of a serious underlying medical condition. Bone pain or tenderness could be the result of infection, an interruption in the blood supply, or cancer. These conditions require immediate medical attention.
When vitamin D levels are low and the body isn't able to properly absorb calcium and phosphorus, there is an increased risk of bone pain, bone fractures, muscle pain and muscle weakness. In older adults, severe vitamin D deficiency (levels less than 10 ng/mL) may also contribute to an increased risk of falls.
Bone pain. Pain caused by bone cancer usually begins with a feeling of tenderness in the affected bone. This gradually progresses to a persistent ache or an ache that comes and goes, which continues at night and when resting.
The most common causes of bone pain include: Traumas and other injuries. Health conditions that weaken your bones. Benign bone tumors.
Take warm showers or baths, dress in layers during the day (including gloves and warm socks), use a heating pad or electric blanket at night, crank up the heat inside your home. Maintain a healthy weight to put less stress on your joints—back, knees, hips. Stay active and exercise regularly.
Do bones ache as you age?
Yes, often aching joints and muscles are simply the effects of age. As you get older, the natural tendency is for muscles to get smaller and lose some of their strength. Bones also start to get weaker over time.
If your joints don't like the winter chill, the best antidote is to stay warm. Layer up with hats, gloves and scarves, and use an electric heating pad or an electric blanket to keep yourself warm while you're napping. You might even consider soaking in a hot bath to help loosen stiff joints. Get moving.
During the night, there is a drop in the stress hormone cortisol which has an anti-inflammatory response. There is less inflammation, less healing, so the damage to bone due to the above conditions accelerates in the night, with pain as the side-effect.
According to Professor Karen Walker-Bone, professor of occupational rheumatology at the University of Southampton, people with osteoarthritis generally prefer warm and dry weather, while those with rheumatoid arthritis tend to prefer the cooler weather.
Even mild bone pain may indicate an emergency condition. If you experience unexplained bone pain that doesn't improve within a few days, consult your doctor. You should also see a doctor if the bone pain is accompanied by weight loss, decreased appetite, or general fatigue.
Vitamin D status influences musculoskeletal health. Low vitamin D levels may lead to clinical manifestations, including bone pain, muscle weakness, falls, low bone mass, and fractures, with subsequent diagnoses of osteomalacia, osteoporosis, and myopathy.
While there are many potential causes of hip and leg pain, the most common include arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, dislocation, and sciatica. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it is important to see a doctor get an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Pain and stiffness all over the body.
- Fatigue and tiredness.
- Depression and anxiety.
- Sleep problems.
- Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration.
- Headaches, including migraines.
See your health care provider as soon as possible if you have: Symptoms of infection, such as redness, warmth or tenderness, or you have a fever greater than100 F (37.8 C). A leg that is swollen, pale or cooler than usual. Calf pain, especially after sitting for a long time, such as on a long car trip or plane ride.
The discomfort from fibromyalgia may feel like burning, soreness, stiffness, aching, or gnawing pain, often times with sore spots in certain parts of your muscles. The pain may feel like arthritis. But it doesn't damage muscles or bones.
What vitamins do I need if my bones hurt?
- Vitamin C. ...
- Vitamin D. ...
- Calcium. ...
- Copper. ...
- Magnesium. ...
- Folate. ...
- Avocado Soybean Unsaponifiables. ...
- Glucosamine and Chondroitin.
Vitamins B1, B12, and D may help relieve them, along with potassium and magnesium.
Vitamins D and K are both important for bone strength, and vitamin K is involved in cartilage structure. Supplementing these two nutrients may be helpful if you're deficient in them.
Osteoporosis is often referred to as a 'silent condition' and often a fracture is the first symptom that leads to investigation and diagnosis of the condition. Pain is not a symptom of osteoporosis in the absence of fractures.
Distinguishing Between Bone Pain and Joint Pain
Bone pain tends to be localized and is often described as sharp pain, especially when associated with fracture. Even the sensation produced by bone cancer has been described as similar to having breaks in the bone. Joint pain is typically limited to the affected joint.
However, in general, bone pain feels sharper, deeper, and more debilitating than muscle pain. Bone pain may also last longer than muscle pain and require greater medical attention. In contrast, muscle pain feels more “generalized,” and its exact location is difficult to pinpoint.
- A stooped posture and even a loss of height over time.
- Back pain that could be caused by a collapsed or fractured vertebra in your back.
- A bone that breaks more easily than expected.
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes weak, thinning bones. This leaves the bones at greater risk of breaking. The bones most often affected are the hips, spine, and wrists. Women are 4 times more likely to get osteoporosis than men because of a decrease in estrogen after menopause.
Osteoporosis is the major cause of fractures in postmenopausal women and in older men. Fractures can occur in any bone but happen most often in bones of the hip, vertebrae in the spine, and wrist.
Some people write off nightly leg pain as a symptom of getting older, but if you are experiencing nightly leg pain that is interrupting your sleep that could be a symptom of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). Peripheral Artery Disease is a circulatory disease that is caused by fatty deposits in your artery walls.
What medicine helps leg pain from cold weather?
Some good choices for pain relief are acetaminophen or NSAIDs like aspirin, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and naproxen. Both acetaminophen and NSAIDs can lower your fever and ease muscle aches. Some people find that one medicine works better for them than another.
- Rest as much as possible.
- Elevate your leg.
- Apply ice for up to 15 minutes. Do this 4 times per day, more often for the first few days.
- Gently stretch and massage cramping muscles.
- Take over-the-counter pain medicines such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Most people will reach their peak bone mass between the ages of 25 and 30. By the time we reach age 40, we slowly begin to lose bone mass. We can, however, take steps to avoid severe bone loss over time. For most of us, bone loss can be significantly slowed through proper nutrition and regular exercise.
A: It varies. If you follow your doctor's instructions and allow for adequate rest and recovery time, your bone should heal within three to six months. More extensive injuries, especially those that involve a joint, may require two years or more for optimal recovery.
What's happening. With age, bones tend to shrink in size and density, weakening them and making them more susceptible to fracture. You might even become a bit shorter. Muscles generally lose strength, endurance and flexibility — factors that can affect your coordination, stability and balance.
When we get cold, our body generates heat to try to stay warm. Our body is 60% water and water is hard to heat. Metal is dense and can hold heat. If metal in the body is covered by skin, like a plate in the ankle, thin skin is against thick metal competing for the heat.
Blood flow slows in your outer extremities when your body is exposed to cold. Nerve pain — especially in your hands and feet — increases as your circulation decreases. The change in barometric pressure — due to temperature drops — intensifies pressure on the nerves, which send pain signals to the brain.
Before it rains, barometric pressure tends to decrease. When this happens, there's less air pressure exerting itself on your body, which may allow muscles, tendons and other tissue surrounding the joints to expand. The expansion may crowd the joints, putting extra pressure on them, which may lead to pain.
While the research is still out on the exact cause, many believe that during cold months the body tries to conserve heat by sending more blood to organs in your body's midsection, such as your heart, lungs and digestive organs. As a result, your body sends less blood to your legs, knees, and other joints.
Bone pain usually feels like it's coming from a specific spot inside your body that you can point to (it's more localized). Muscle pain typically feels less localized and more spread out along the length of your sore or injured muscle. Bone pain usually lasts longer than muscle pain.
Why do my shins hurt in the cold?
Cold weather can also make your muscles tighter and stiffer, which can contribute to leg pain. Your body tries to conserve heat by sending more blood to your core. This causes the blood vessels in your limbs to constrict, resulting in tighter and colder muscles.
