Yangcheng Evening News reporter Lin Qingqing.
Many people have painful joints when the weather is cold, and even ridicule themselves as "human weather forecasts", what is going on?Is there anything to do with rheumatism in the cold and wet weather in the south?Professor Huang Yanyue, chief physician of the Department of Rheumatology of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, reminded that cold stimulation will aggravate the pain of arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
"Old cold legs" hurt when they are cold
Whenever the temperature plummets or on a rainy day, the knee joint will be painful, and this symptom commonly known as "old cold legs" has troubled many people.
Why does cold make joint pain worse?In fact, the "old cold legs" are not frozen, but the cold is one of the stimulants.
Huang explained that cold will constrict blood vessels, affect the blood supply to joint tissues, reduce normal synovial fluid secretion, and also make synovial fluid become more viscous, while local ischemia and hypoxia, lack of lubrication will increase friction, which will cause pain. In particular, older people with aging joints are more likely to experience pain as a result. In addition, inflammation of joints produces inflammatory cytokines that can directly stimulate or accelerate arthritis progression through an immunoinflammatory response, while causing pain. In the case of low temperature, it is difficult to remove inflammatory metabolites, resulting in a vicious cycle of accumulation of inflammatory factors and aggravation of pain. These are the reasons why people with arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are more sensitive to low temperatures. Huang Yanyue said.
"Magic Attack" is coming!What to do with "old cold legs"?
People often joke that the cold in the south is a "magic attack", and that cold and dampness can stimulate the local inflammatory response of the joints to intensify and make the pain symptoms worse, which can lead to disease**. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies rheumatism as a "paralysis" disease, which is recorded in the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing": "The three qi of wind, cold and dampness are mixed, and they are combined into paralysis." "The human body has been in a cold and damp environment for a long time, and it is easy to lack righteousness, and evil will enter the body, which will become paralyzed and develop into rheumatism.
In the face of sudden cooling, how to prevent ** or aggravation?Huang Yunyue said that in the view of traditional Chinese medicine, it should be "false and evil thief wind, avoid it", cold and damp are both "false evil thief wind". Therefore, we should pay attention to standardizing ** and taking medication on time;Pay attention to the head, abdomen and joints to keep warm and coldAvoid going out for a long time in low temperature weather, choose a warmer time of day when going out, and try to avoid going out in the morning and evening.
Don't "Cat Winter"!Appropriate exercise can be improved
However, avoiding going out for long periods of time does not mean that you have to stay at home and stay motionless. Huang Yanyue reminded that maintaining proper and regular exercise can "exercise to generate yang", promote the operation of qi and blood meridians, and help alleviate the symptoms of meridian obstruction. It is recommended to focus on indoor exercises, and choose some aerobic exercises with gentle movements and less pressure on the joints, such as tai chi, joint exercises, and Babu Vajra Gong.
If you have had joint replacement surgery or a history of joint trauma, you should avoid high-intensity weight-bearing exercises such as dumbbells and weight-bearing running. When joint pain is more obvious with exercise**, you should immediately reduce the exercise intensity or rest, and wait until your condition is stable and consult a doctor before resuming exercise.
It is easy to have leg cramps when it is cold, and the blood circulation temperature and yang can be adjusted
Some people find that they are prone to leg cramps when the weather is cold, what should I do?Huang Yunyue said that from the perspective of modern medicine, this is the contraction of muscles and spasms after the local microcirculation of the human body is stimulated by cold. In the view of traditional Chinese medicine, it is considered that most of the people with yang deficiency constitution or cold and damp constitution are considered to have local qi and blood meridians blocked in the case of cold, and cramps occur. You can try to use moxibustion, acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, or drugs such as astragalus and guizhi wuwu decoction to regulate the meridian blood circulation and warm yang.