Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
82861 tn?1333453911

Cold Weather and Arthritis Pain

Arthritis isn't my primary pain problem (say that three times fast!) but it's really interfering in my life now.  It's not so bad in Summer, but the other 8 months out of the year are pretty nasty.  My hips allow me to sleep for maybe 4 hours if I'm lucky.  The rest of the night is toss and turn and try to at least doze.  It took a good 3 hours just to get moving without a limp this morning.  Temps in the 20s the past couple of nights and again tonight are giving me a whole lot of grief.

None of my usual tricks are helping.  A hot bath is only temporary relief and 4 Aleve a day gets laughed at.  I've taken time-release melatonin, which usually works very well for me, but not with the hips screaming.  If I had insurance I'd ask for my annual hip shot now, but that's out of the question at $360 per hip.  If they lasted more than a couple months I might consider it, but the cost-benefit ratio doesn't compute with my pocketbook.  I'm open to any ideas.  If you got 'em, let's hear 'em.  Please!
10 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
82861 tn?1333453911
Got some sample lidoderm patches yesterday and my doctor was right: it did nothing.  I've been using Aspercreme roll-on which really does help at night but I'm not wild about the menthol smell.  I'm a wreck today after trying the lidoderm patch and getting zero results.  Spent the whole day with my heating pad and still gimping around.  Slapped on a ThermaCare pad to get me through this evening's rehearsal.  Is it summer yet?!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm going to check out these Thermal Clay heating pads.  I use the ThermaCare ones ALL the time for everything.  Right now I have two on, one for bad period cramps and one for the back.  I love them.

JayBay, see if you can try lidoderm patches.  Heat helps me most but I got the lidoderm patches for my hand.  They're pretty large and I cut them for my hand.  But I've tried them on my hips.  I hear you on the not being able to sleep because of the hips.  My arthritis is flaring up with this cold weather.  In general, I've found exercising on an elliptical machine can help a lot.  I've tried walking outside and on a treadmill and, for me, it's made my hip pain worse.  For whatever reason, the motion of the elliptical helps.  

I've been near tears lately with the cold and the arthritis.  I am going to be trying a lidocaine infusion soon and I'm hoping it will relieve a little of the arthritis pain.

What I love about the ThermaCare is that they last 8 hours!
Helpful - 0
1508881 tn?1313114901
I went to Walgreen's this afternoon and they actually have them and they have a store brand version as well that's a little cheaper. I think my big one was around $20 and the small one was $15
Helpful - 0
1035252 tn?1427227833
Oh wow that's great to know; thanks atonicat!

Jaybay LOL @kissing bird!
Helpful - 0
1508881 tn?1313114901
I got mine at Target, but I think I've seen them at Walgreens. Do a search for "Thermipaq Thermal Clay heating pad" and that's the exact one I have, I have the large one. They are great. I heat mine up for about 3 minutes and it holds the heat for at least an hour. I use it with the cover on and then when the heat starts to go down I take the cover off and use it that way, so it extends the time.
Helpful - 0
82861 tn?1333453911
atonicat - I'd love to know more about those ceramic heaters myself.  Can't quite picture what it is and how it works, but I'd love to find out!

Ashelen - you've got me in stitches with your bird story!  Our quaker parrot isn't much of talker - hello, pretty bird and lots of practice muttering are the extent of his efforts so far.  He's great at whistling tunes though.  What cracks me up is that he learned to make a kiss noise, and at the appropriate time.  If DH gives me a peck on the cheek or we kiss on the dogs, Nick joins right in at exactly the right moment.  I couldn't believe it wasn't just a coincidence the first time.  Now he watches everyone who comes in the house and just waits for it.  LOL!
Helpful - 0
1035252 tn?1427227833
Hey it's okay we all have "blonde" moments ;-).

Atonicat where do you get ceramic heating devices? I'm interested!

Jaybay that sounds like a HORRIBLE fall I can picture it with vivid empathy....I have so many falls under my belt I can't even remember most of them (maybe I fell on my head? LOL) but some of the ones that stick out the most are one where I fell off of a 19h thoroughbred/Clydesdale mix on a cross-country course and I landed flat on my back over the jump...which was a nice solid railroad tie-and-trestle jump....no give whatsoever. That's when my SIJ woes really started. I also remember one where the horse I was riding bareback spooked and I went sliding over 20 feet across the cement...lost all the skin on my right forearm and it's still one giant scar to this day (hardly noticeable luckily, but it's a good thing I still shave my arms as a habit from being a swimmer in high school because i grow NO hair there, LOL)...I'm also lucky I managed to get my arm under my face or my FACE would be one giant scar right now! and then there's the time that the horse I was tacking spooked, pulled free of his ties and ran over me, shoving me onto my back on the corner of a chest-style tack box....I had such a giant black, triangle shaped bruise on my back...I thought I had ruptured something, LOL. Man I have so many more...dislocated shoulders, concussions, shattered wrist....

Ahhh..horseback riding, LOL.


Oh man CAG's really are smart...mine is a little stinker too. He's taken to waiting until the cat is out and riling up the dog...normally the dog doesn't mind the cat, but if you TELL her that the cat is out, she gets too excited...so Ashe (my african grey) will go "*GASP* Loooook, a kiiiitty!!!!" and the dog flips out, lol. And then there's of course when he throws his peppers out of his cage (he HATES peppers but they're in the food we buy him) and he goes "OH KAHLAN (my daughter) what have you DONE....that wasn't nice, not at all!"....sometimes I wish he didn't talk, haha.
Helpful - 0
82861 tn?1333453911
I'm just outside of Houston and it feels like my hometown in Kansas right now.  LOL!  I never even thought about the Thermacare patches.  Thank you!  What a total blonde moment on my part.  For some reason whenever I see them I think only "back pain" and forget they can be used about anywhere.  I'm such an eejit!

I hear you about the horse riding.  I had a hunter/ jumper for a few years when I was in my 30's.  He was a thoroughbred but only twice in all the years he was with me did he show off his bloodlines.  Once he spooked at a distant car backfire.  I have no idea what happened the second time, but he caught me completely off guard.  We were still warming up before hitting the jumps and he took off like a freakin maniac.  I made the first 3 corners of the arena.  On the 4th, he kicked his inside rear leg and swerved just enough to send me flying through the air.  I still remember it seemed to take forever to hit the ground and thinking, "This arena has 3 feet of sand.  If I have to go down, this is the pace to do it.  Get it over with."  BAM!  I didn't know what I hit until a couple weeks later when my trainer told me.  I hit a metal fencepost with my tailbone first, and my head whipped back and hit the wooden rail.  Good thing I had my helmet on because even with that I had a huge goose egg on the back of my skull.  Busted my tailbone and had to bring my donut with me to work for a good 6 weeks, and was on crutches most of that time.  I couldn't walk at all the first week.  My rear end looked like a baboon's.  LOL!

Horses aside, it was ballet that nailed my hips.  Turnout comes from the hip, not the feet, and forcing your joint into that position isn't exactly great for joint health.  Forget about the feet - it's the hips that scream after years of dancing.

Love the African Grey story!  They really are wonderful birds - for the right people.  You have to have the same patience and amount of time to give them the attention you would a toddler.  Without that, they're a menace.  And I swear they're smarter than some toddlers I know.  LOL!
Helpful - 0
1508881 tn?1313114901
I agree. Heat is my best friend. Weather doesn't really make a difference for me, my pain is the same regardless. I keep a heating pad in my night stand as well as one that you can put in the microwave. I also have one in my desk at work. I use the clay one's as they hold the heat longer than gel. I also buy the thermal care pads but my clay heating pads get a lot hotter so I use them more. I use mine really hot, hotter than most people could handle. But it helps so much.
Helpful - 0
1035252 tn?1427227833
I have a lot of joint pain in my back and hips due to horseback riding injuries and bad genes...and aside from pain meds (which are only minimally effective as you know for joint/bone pain) the only thing I've ever found to be effective is heat. Heat heat heat. I buy those thermacare packs that you can stick directly to your skin and leave them on pretty much 24/7 when the weather gets like this. I remember when I was pregnant and couldn't apply heat because of the pregnancy, the pain in my hips would keep me up gasping at night and when I had to pee my husband would quite literally have to lever me up and out of bed because of the pain.

I would recommend thermacare! It really seems to help me. I am SO grateful, this time of year, that I live in FL but this year has NOT been kind. The freezing cold and all the rain has wreaked havoc on my SIJ and hips...but it could be so much worse if I were farther north.

I never thought I would have these problems this young, but competitive horseback riding will sure do that to you! I hope you find something that works; I'm sure someone else is going to come along with a much more helpful tip than me, lol.


Btw I haven't forgotten about sending you those bird stories!!! I'm just trying to remember some, LOL. I'll leave you with this....my friend taught their African Grey to spread his wings and say "I'm an eagle, I'm an eagle! Would you believe a red-tailed hawk?" and we're working on teaching my CAG that, LOL.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Pain Management Community

Top Pain Answerers
Avatar universal
st. louis, MO
317787 tn?1473358451
DC
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
Could it be something you ate? Lack of sleep? Here are 11 migraine triggers to look out for.
Find out if PRP therapy right for you.
Tips for preventing one of the most common types of knee injury.
Here are 10 ways to stop headaches before they start.
Tips and moves to ease backaches