Arthritis and cold water swimming

lizzierain

I have osteoarthritis in my hands, swollen knuckles particularly my index fingers and some stiffness in the knees. My finger joints can feel sore to touch in winter time cold. Sea swimming is something that I love. I wear 2 pairs of neoprene gloves and boots to keep my extremities warm (I also have Reynauds disease with white fingers and soles of feet in the cold). I was wondering if there is any research around arthritis and exposure to cold water? I know there are plenty of mental health benefits for cold water swimming and that it can boost circulation, however I now only swim once a week in the winter because I worry that my finger joints are more swollen and painful afterwards. I would be grateful for any information on this!

PeterJ

Hello @lizzierain and welcome to the community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope you will find that as well.

I understand that you have osteoarthritis in your hands and you have Raynaud's as well. Can I suggest having a look around our website as it has some items which might be of interest to you. I've put a couple on links below to help get you started.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis-of-the-hand-and-wrist/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/raynauds-phenomenon/

there is also an article about swimming

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/june/why-is-swimming-and-exercising-in-water-good-for-people-with-arthritis/

We also have a Helpline team who might be able to direct you to some research an other information. In the meantime please do keep posting and I am sure others will connect with you to share their experiences as well.

With very best wishes

Peter (moderator)

CuriousSquirrel

Hello! I can't speak much from personal experience as I haven't done any child water swimming since my symptoms started (though I plan to in summer!) But your question reminded me of this blog post from Arthur's Place website which may be helpful, even if just anecdotally!

https://arthursplace.co.uk/blog-post/romaines-story-my-arthritis-diagnosis-led-me-to-a-wetsuit-and-a-river/

A quick Google search seems to show lots of studies and articles about the benefits of cold water swimming for inflammation so I'm sure the info you need is out there!