With the Weather, recently, going from hot to cold every other day, your body may be experiencing things that you may not normally experience. This is because different weather conditions can influence our bodies’ joints and muscles. The cold makes our muscles tense up and limits blood flow through the body. This increases stiffness, pain, and injury risk due to our body not getting the blood circulation it needs to function properly and perform regular baseline movements. Heat isn’t as bad, but it can increase inflammation in the joints causing tissue to expand and swell. This swelling can be painful, but easing into your physical therapy session with warm-up movements and icing during your session can reduce inflammation and swelling as well. Rain also has an impact. (It’s true when that person says they feel more pain in their joints when it’s raining.) It’s because of the atmospheric pressure causing tissues to expand surrounding the joint. This can lead to discomfort and stiffness. Weather can really have a big impact on our bodies, but at Specialized Physical Therapy we can ease you into each session so you can move freely without overworking your body or causing more pain. Things like warming up with slow movements, icing, heating, and stretching all can help reduce these weather-caused symptoms.