Keep Your Joints "Cool" While the Weather Gets Hot

If your joint pain worsens as the weather gets warmer, you’re not alone. Warmer months can aggravate your joints, especially if you struggle with arthritis or other chronic joint pain conditions. Here, we break down why that may happen and how you can work to prevent it.

What Makes Joint Pain Worse in Summer?

While everyone is different, there are a few common culprits for worsening joing pain in the summer. Here are a few of the most common:

Less Activity

When it gets hot outside, it's tempting to take things easy and not move around as much. We don't blame you! Moving around too much outside when it gets warm — especially in particularly hot climates- can be miserable and sometimes even risky. Unfortunately, reduced activity can result in stiff or painful joints.

Dehydration

Your body requires more fluid to stay hydrated in higher temperatures. When you are dehydrated, your joints are less lubricated, resulting in pain. This is especially true with joints like your knees and shoulders.

Dramatic Temperature Shifts

You may have noticed that hands swell when you work outside on a warm day. That swelling is partly the result of the expanding of tendons and ligaments that tends to happen when you work in the heat. If you live in an area where the temperatures are warm during the day and cooler at night, those same tendons and ligaments will often expand and contract as the weather changes, which may increase joint pain.

Humidity

Ever notice that your joints are more painful before a storm? There’s a reason for that! Shifts in barometric pressure, often recognized as a change in humidity, can impact the amount of fluid present in your joints. The effect on your body is similar to dehydration.

How to Protect Your Joints

Some factors affecting joint pain are outside your control, which can be frustrating. Thankfully, there are tips and strategies you can implement to help manage your joint pain in hot summer weather.

Choose Your Exercise Time Carefully