Dislike the cold weather because it makes your muscles feel cramped? Joints feel stiff on waking up in the morning? You are not alone! The chilly weather changes the dynamics of the human body leading to several health-related ailments. The knee joint is one of the weight-bearing joints of the body and most individuals experience pain in knees while walking or climbing up/down the stairs at some point in time in their lives (especially with advancing age). Symptoms may worsen in cold conditions leading to increased difficulty in performing activities of daily living.

While joint pain is a sign of injury or presence of an underlying condition such as arthritis, in winters, even the healthiest of individuals may experience vague, nagging pain in joints (especially knee). Although the exact reason for the pain and stiffness is unknown, it may be speculated that the body tends to conserve heat during winters; therefore, more blood is pumped to the central organs of the body, such as heart and lungs. Thus blood flow to the extremities or joints in the upper and lower limbs are reduced causing pain. Another hypothesis states that changes in external environmental pressure lead to an inflammatory response in the joints which leads to swelling and pain, due to circulatory changes and increased sensitivity of nerve fibers.