Have you got stiff joints?

Have you got stiff joints?

If your joints are feeling stiff, it can affect both your mood and your mobility, making you feel like crawling back under the covers when you’d otherwise love to be jumping up and going outside for a good long walk.

Did you know?

Amazingly, there are 360 joints in the human body. However, not all of them are moving joints. Some are fixed and some allow for a little flexibility.

The three types of joints are:

• Fibrous joints – these connect bones but don’t allow any movement. They include the joints in your skull and pelvis.
• Cartilaginous joints – these joints allow for a little movement. You’ll find them in your spine and ribs.
• Synovial joints – these are the all-important moving joints that help us to sit, stand, walk, run and move about. They include your shoulder, hip, elbow, wrist, knee and ankle joints.

The signs of joint stiffness

If you have stiff joints, you might:

• Find it difficult to get your joints ‘warmed up’ first thing in the morning
• Take longer than usual to get up out of a chair
• Need a little extra time to get out of a car
• Have trouble getting up after sitting at your desk for a while
• Try to avoid making sudden movements

What causes joint stiffness?

Joint stiffness can be due to a variety of reasons.

1. The ageing process
The most likely reason for having stiff joints is that our joints become less flexible as we get older.

In synovial joints like the knee and elbow, the bones inside the joints are cushioned by cartilage, which acts as a shock absorber. This cartilage gradually wears out over time.

The joints are also cushioned by synovial fluid, a sticky substance that washes around the joint, helping it to stay flexible. As we get older, our bodies produce less synovial fluid, so there’s less around to lubricate your joint and help it bend, stretch and straighten whenever you want it to.

2. The time of day
The time of day also has an impact on your joints. While you’re asleep, the synovial fluid around your joints is less mobile, so it has less chance to lubricate the joint. That’s why you might wake up and feel as though your joints are a bit ‘creaky’. Then, once you’ve been moving around for an hour and the fluid has been able to circulate around your joints, you feel more mobile again.

3. The weather
Many people swear that they can feel it in their joints when there’s a change in the weather on its way. This might be true, or it might be folklore. But a drop in barometric pressure could have an effect on stiff joints for people who are particularly attuned to the weather.

What can you do about it?

Exercise is one of the best remedies for joint stiffness – provided you keep within the limits of what feels comfortable for you and don’t overdo it.

It works on the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. If you keep your joints moving, you’ll strengthen your bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, and keep that synovial fluid gently bathing your joints.

Obviously, we recommend dog walks as one of the best all-round forms of exercise, both for you and your dog. Have a look at our guides for walking your younger dog and exercising your senior dog.

Try iMOVE

You could also try iMOVE, our special supplement developed to ease stiffness and maintain joint health.

First of all, we developed YuMOVE for dogs, the UK’s no.1 veterinary joint supplement brand. Dog owners loved the results they were getting for their furry best friends, and asked us if we could develop something similar for humans.

So we did, and the result was iMOVE. It’s based on the same principles as YuMOVE, using only the highest-quality ingredients that are clinically proven to make a difference.

iMOVE contains:

• Glucosamine. A vital nutrient for maintaining joint health, Glucosamine provides the building blocks for connective tissues such as cartilage. iMOVE contains Glucosamine HCl, the purest form of Glucosamine available.
• Green Lipped Mussel. This provides an incredibly rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids and Chondroitin to help soothe stiff joints. Our unique mussels are sustainably farmed in the clear blue coastal waters of New Zealand and are carefully harvested and cold extracted to preserve quality.
• Hyaluronic Acid. A major part of the joint's synovial fluid, Hyaluronic Acid helps to lubricate and cushion your joints.
• Manganese. Supports collagen formation in the cartilage, tendons and ligaments to maintain joint health.

What people are saying about iMOVE

“When I saw the iMOVE Active for people I decided to give them a try. So pleased I did, I've found moving about easier so I can walk much more easily.” Janette

“My dog 🐶 uses the canine version with excellent results so I decided to try the human version. After approximately 2 weeks I really noticed a difference and after a month the level of movement that I'd regained is absolutely amazing. Using natural supplements is definitely the way to go.” Ben

Do you have stiff joints?

Do you have any advice about how to deal with stiff joints? Have you tried iMOVE? Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram. We’d love to hear from you.