My boyfriend and I have been shoveling almost daily the last week, and it sure is exhausting! Having to get up a few hours earlier than you normally would just to make sure your car has a path out to work in the morning gets old after a while. My darling boyfriend started complaining about some pretty bad joint pain on Wednesday and it still hasn’t left him, so I’ve had to do most of the shoveling while he recovers. I’ve given him strict instructions for how to handle joint pain, so I’m going to include a few of them here for any of you who might be sore as well!
Warm Up
If you feel especially stiff, using heat therapy to help with muscle stiffness is a great way to handle joint pain. The easiest way to do this is by taking a nice hot shower or bath in the morning, but using a heating pad throughout the day on stiff joints is a great thing to do, as well. My parents always make sure to have a heating pad each and my boyfriend and I are exactly the same!
Cool Down
When your joints are sore, icing them is the best way to help reduce the pain and swelling. It’s really easy to use ice therapy, almost easier than heat therapy: all you need is an ice pack or a pack of frozen vegetables! It’s important to wrap up whatever frozen thing you want to use, though, and then rest it on your painful join for a while.
Get a Massage
I usually massage my boyfriend whenever he’s in pain, and it’s really easy to learn basic massages for standard pain by watching massage therapist instructional videos on the internet. If your pain is severe, you have conditions that make it crucial to be handled delicately, or you don’t have someone to give you a massage, visiting a massage therapist will help you out tremendously. Do your research and pick a massage therapist with great reviews and who you’re comfortable with.
