Gibsons Chiropractic Blog

Fall is in the Air!

“You can tell that fall is in the air,” commented one of the staff. “With the cool rainy days, many of our arthritis patients are showing up for their pre-fall tune-ups.”

With the noticeable drop in temperature and increased moisture in the air, the common complaint with these patients is that for months they’ve felt great and now those re-occurring aches and pains are back.

When confronted with the question of why many of us ache worse in cold, damp weather I offer the following answer: “Who the heck knows!”

Researchers are unable to agree that osteoarthritis aches and pains vary with thermal or barometric changes. They often attribute these complaints of winter aches to psychological sequelae of shorter days and grey weather rather than physiologic changes (they obviously haven’t talked to enough of Canada’s snowbirds).

In my humble experiences with hundreds of snowbirds, I’ll fearlessly challenge these researchers, throw caution to the wind and offer a definitive medical opinion.

Cold winter weather bothers some patients physically, some mentally and some not at all. I’ve been told that I’m riding the fence on this issue. At any rate our office certainly gets busy when the weather turns nasty. I’ll share some of our advice to deal with this problem.

Stay active year round. Your body needs to be stretched, strengthened and active 12 months of the year. There will be days when it’s wet and cold and you won’t feel like going outside. Go to the mall and walk, walk on a treadmill, walk up and down some stairs, go to the gym, swim laps at the pool, or better yet, invest in a good raincoat and umbrella and head outside. The fresh air will help to invigorate you as well. If you turn into a couch potato in winter your body will hurt as much or more as a springtime couch potato.

Try to eat whole natural foods focusing on fresh veggies, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds and good cuts of meat and fish. Try to stay away from empty calories in refined breads, pastas, rice and pastries. There is more recent research linking excess refined and poor quality simple and complex carbohydrate intake to increased inflammatory exudates (swollen joints).

Try some of the arthritis supplements on the market if you haven’t already. There is some support for glucosamine sulphate, MSM, a good antioxidant formula, a good calcium/magnesium/vitamin D formula and salmon oil capsules that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids.

Chondroitin sulphate has not done well in recent clinical trials in terms of efficacy so you should probably save your money. Do not take glucosamine or chondroitin if you have sulfa allergies — remember the full compound is glucosamine sulphate. Also, be careful if you have diabetes as the glucose in glucosamine may increase your blood glucose levels temporarily.

If you begin to experience back or joint pain, chiropractic treatment may help. Chiropractic is a safe and effective way to relieve pain in the joints, muscles and nerves along the spinal column. For more information on chiropractic care, preventing and treating back injuries in your family, contact Dr. Stacey Rosenberg on 604-886-7080 or find a family chiropractor at: www.bcchiro.com.

[Source: From: Alberni Valley Times; Byline: Dr. James Tilsted, DC, Dr. Brent Manson, DC and Dr. Cobi Bothma, ND]