While you can suffer from muscle and joint stiffness at any age, it becomes a lot more common as you get older. After years of use, the strain that we put our joints under every day can start to take its toll and our bones, muscles, and joints can start to feel sore and stiff. If you suffer from muscle and joint stiffness, then there could be a range of explanations for it.
From old age to suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or even as a symptom of a bigger injury, whatever the reason, it is important that you have a few effective methods that work well to help ease the pain and discomfort you are in.
Suffering from muscle and joint stiffness can have serious consequences for your quality of life, and suffering from chronic pain, at any age, can be difficult both mentally and physically to deal with. Therefore, we have put together this guide of 3 effective methods that may be able to help eliminate your muscle and joint stiffness.
Invest in a Good Quality Mattress
If you suffer from muscle and joint stiffness and aren’t sure why then you may find that you are sleeping on an old mattress that is causing added strain to your body. When we rest during the night, we can spend long periods of time lying down. This can often lead to a particular joint and muscle stiffness that only occurs during the morning until you have warmed up your body again.
However, any pain or discomfort that you are experiencing could be caused, or made worse, by sleeping on a poor-quality mattress that does not suit your body. Therefore, it is worth investing in comfortable bedroom furniture to give your muscles and joints that extra support, like a good mattress you’ll use for years.
Light Exercise
When you are suffering from muscle and joint stiffness, the last thing you can feel like doing is heading down to the gym for some exercise. However, it is important that you keep your joints moving as much as you can, as failure to do this can increase tension and stiffness.
But we aren’t suggesting that you go and spend an hour on a treadmill. You should be very careful with what exercise you engage in and should go for aquatic exercises as the water-resistance will offer your body the support it needs. Yoga is also a popular form of exercise amongst muscle and joint stiffness sufferers as it is helping you to stretch your body in a safe and controlled way. However, you should be sure to seek advice from a medical professional before engaging in any form of exercise.
Use Heat Therapy
You can use both heat and cold therapies effectively to help eliminate joints and muscle stiffness, and many arthritis sufferers find it very helpful. While heat therapy soothes stiff joints through a boost in circulation, cold therapy slows down circulation, which reduces swelling, and helps to numb pain. Heat and cold therapy are a great method to help eliminate stiff joints and muscles as it can easily be done from home. Popular heat treatments include having a warm shower or bath in the morning to help ease tensions throughout the day and using a heating pad on sore or stiff joints.
Suffering from stiffness in our joints or muscles can have a huge impact on our daily activities and overall health and wellbeing. Therefore, it is important that you have a range of different effective methods to help you eliminate any stiffness or tension that you are experiencing in your joints or muscles in order to be more comfortable and happier.