Cold knees

[mazzylin]

Is there any explanation for my permanently cold knees?  I am a 56 year old female who has been suffering with this predicament for months now.  I have been tested for thyroid and diabetes which have been ruled out, and in desperation have tried acupuncture which gave no relief.  The wearing of extra clothing, electric blankets, hot water bottles, rheumatic cuffs, hot baths or showers do not bring relief either.  This situation may seem laughable but it has become quite debilitating and I am absolutely desperate for a solution.  I await a consultation with a neurologist but that is still a couple of months away.  In the meantime I seek any advice or help that may be offered.

[noworries]

Hi.  While I cannot be of much help in diagnosing your problem, I want to let you know that I have been experiencing the same thing for almost three years.  Within the first year that it started, I went to many doctors, including two neurologists - full workups, including nerve testing, etc., all bloods normal, thyroid, diabetes, etc.  Absolutely no answer from anyone.  

I still suspect that it is a thyroid problem, and may be worth going to an endocrinologist  to do further testing - there are many more thyroid tests that can be done than the one typically given by your GP.  My body temperature is also quite low throughout the day (around 96 - 96.5) and there are some theories about adrenal and thyroid stress in relation to that.

I can certainly empathise with you - all I have gotten are very odd looks by many doctors and not one has ever even heard of the problem, let alone know of a possible cure.  

I wish you well and hope that this strange symptom can finally establish a cause and a solution.

[colettei]

Hi, I just wanted to add my experience to yours to let you know there are more people out there with these symptoms. I first experienced cold knees a couple of months ago when I took a long plane flight. The temperature inside the plane was very cold and everyone had many blankets on. The feeling of coldness has not left me since - but only in the knees!
My doctor has never heard of it in 30 years in the profession and I have recently had blood tests because I have a thyroid condition but he says there is nothing unusual there.
I too am awaiting another doctor's appointment to get a referral to a specialist of some sort but don't know what kind of specialist to see!
Can you please tell me how your symptoms started, so I can compare?
Do you have any tips for alleviating the pain as everything I've tried has failed?
Thanks.

[ILuvNProtectMe]

I have recently noticed my knees feel cold.  I run as excercise but usually only 3 time a week for 2 miles.  The cold knees don't bother me but I was curious.

[Lollyangel66]

Me too!  From about mid thigh to mid calf including my knees I am always cold!  The odd part is I run hot everywhere else!  I have been told by my OD that I have an overactive thyroid.  So I place my very warm hands on my very cold knees.  Sometimes a little massage will help.  I do have very swollen and painfull knees as well.  This cold knees thing is new though and only adds to the stiffness and pain in my knees..  Hot tub or heating pad is only a temporary comfort.  I am due to go back to my doctor in January and will ask him about the cold knees then.

[Mabase]

This just started happening to me this year and I'm only 25.  They seem to get coldest when I get sleepy.  I usualy don't even notice that they're cold until i touch them with my hands.  When I'm warming them up sometimes it feels almost as if icecubes were under the skin. I have hyperthyroid but I'm on medication for it.  I have yet to ask the doctor about it but I will next visit.. Good luck finding the source.  

[Copperjacket]

I have had cold knees for some years now, and it is very painful. If I move around it does not bother me but when I am in bed it keeps me awake.  I now take a hot water bottle to bed with me and that helps.  When I menationed it to the my doctor all he said was cover them up, not very helpful.

I have tried covering my knees with special sports tubes and specially made cover, but these fall down or move off the knee.

If anyone has a good answer I'd love to know.

[aocidicoa]

I think this is pretty normal since not much tissue, meat or fat is around the knee unlike the near areas like thighs or leg. I just read these posts and decided to touch my knees and yes, they are very cold compared to the rest of my leg. I have some pain cause I recently had a big car crash  and I hit my knees against the counter but It has been hurting less with time so I dont think it has to do with it. This might be just usual, or at least, lets hope so! hehe

[lom433]

My knees are almost always cold and it hurts badly. My Doctor is yet to give me any explanation. Somebody help!!

[mojodesert]

same here, i am 32 years old male,i wake up every morning with cold knees and they hurtt as well. i cannot stand cold water at all.
i am visiting my doctor very soon, will keep you updated.
thanks

[debicy]

Hi, I have been suffering with this complaint now for a year,  My family laugh and joke even my doctor said they had never heard of it.  athough she has authorised some tests for thyroid etc. but I expect by the comments I have read nothing will be found.

I am a permanantly cold person but my knees are really cold and couse pain especially at night. I do travel alot via plane and wonder if this aggravates the problem.  It takes a few days for my knees to warm up in the sun.

[colettei]

Colette here, I wrote a big long post about all the treatments I have since endured from my first post but it didn't seem to get to you guys.  I will try again later.  I know it's awful but when I first looked up cold knees on the internet there was only one posting by Mazzlyn and I was so depressed to think that with the whole world having access to the internet and it was only me and one other person with this weird condition. So, it's kinda comforting to know that there are more of you guys out there but sad to cos of course you are suffering.  they do say misery loves company ha ha

Will get to the serious stuff in the next couple of days just wanted to say Hi and see if this makes it to the website this time.

[J2J]

Hi all , This post is Great Help .
im just 23 and i suffer from cold knees

im from india , and have been to an ayurvedic doctor

i have been diagnosed with an imbalance in the Kapha Prakruti(excess cold in the body and low body heat) - other symptoms being easy suceptability to catching cough and colds,
also i feel cold very easily,

the remedy to the cold knee situation is for you to start doing yoga - Prayanam (breathing exercises)
look it up online for few excercises

do it for 30 mins everyday

this should cure your overally body functoins as well as cold knees

hope this helps you guys!

take care of urselves

Cheeers!!

[Lovingangel]

Hi all, amazing how by the looks of things so many people have this problem and yet doctors never hear of it. Mine told me its the cold weather and in summer I will be fine. Ive just started with it a couple of weeks ago but can get so painful through the night, wakes me up then cold icy feeling all day.
I have had loads of tests but nothing has showed up either.
Will try the Prayanam, see how I go will let you know.
Good luck to all.
Carmen

[Lovingangel]

Hi all, havent had time to to get into Prayanam but I did start Glucosamine 1500 one a day by Natures Own 5 days ago and the cold and pain as almost GONE!!! :) Actually slept for the last 2 nights!! Its fantastic. I still have a slight cold off and on in the morning nothing in bed, im so happy, looks like its on its way out. Its the only thing I have done differently. I hope it works for all you out there.
Lovingangel4u

[gymstone2000]

this is my first post and I will tell you about my problem. I've been experiencing cold knees for a few years now. I am 27 and I am a dedicated weightlifter and was a dedicated runner. I lift about 300 lbs but have a weight of only 190. I thought it may be some type of damage due to the heavy weightlifting and to all the runners, you heard the saying running on cement maybe bad for the knees? Could be something with the thyroid gland, but I believe it is because of our exercise activities and we have just damages something. Don' t know what it is yet. Feel free to comment on my hypothesis.

[francescaf]

Me Tooooo!!!

Grrrrr.... Although I've always had poor circulation in the hands and feet (and extremities in general), I had never noticed it in the knees until this past few months. It only happens though when i sit down to work on my conputer at my desk. So i guess 'when they are bent'. They get icy cold, and rather than painful, i can just 'feel' how cold they are without touching them for clarification so to speak.

What i have been doing differently over the past year or so is sitting cross legged on my chair at my desk, for prolongued periods of time, hours upon days upon months basically. And also sitting cross legged with my legged 'hooked' into the underneath of my desk to stop myself from slidingbackwards on my rolling chair.  Yeah yeah i KNOW! Bad habits for many reason! Anyhow, the result of this bad habit has been very (almost permanently) sore knees as if just above and behind the kneecap atthe top of bruising from the pressure of my legs and perhaps from my legs pusshingthe kneecaps. Other symptoms include sever cracking sounds on my left knee when i sit (which i know never existed before). Now i find it very uncomfortable to find a good position to sleep in. I can't have my knees pointed down towards the mattress because it's too sore, and i have to have a pillow between my knees if i'm lying on my side. Although there is no pain or feeling of cold in my knees when i try and sleep, i thin it's all related because all these symptoms have crept up this year.

I imagine the cartilage or some kind of lubricating juices are running low in there. It almost feels liek to bend the knee too much would break the skin because it 'feels' so tight when i really bend them.

teh cold is really uncomfortable though as i work. Right now my knees feel frozen... it can't be good.

Anyway... just thought i'd share. I imagine the remedy woudl be to stop sitting in such bad form, stop crossing my knees, build up the supporting msucles around my knees (yoga/pilates, low-no impact), eat well and get good nutrienst, perhaps there are some specific supplements also....

Good luck all!

Chonic Cold Knees.

(Female, 32, otherwise healthy)



I think my

[GD55]

I am suffering so badly...my knees are so cold it dosn't make any sense! Our winters here in Ontario are cold and even with a blanket in the car it dosn't help. I sit and wath Tv, always the knees are paining and cold.
And summer dosn't matter, as soon as there is a breeze I feel it on my knees...
If anyone can help ..please email me at lyne.***@****

[seaburd]

I had menicus knee repair surgery earlier this summer and during rehab workouts developed Fibromyalgia  a painful muscle and joint condition with stinging sensations around my knee.. along with this came ice cold knee symptom.  I now have electric blankets in each room  . Would love to know what I can take to stop this weird symptom.

[Anna_22]

I have had this problem my whole life, and I'm only 15. The last six months have been brutal along with having cold and painful knees; I know have the same pain in my left wrist, both ankles right hip, and both shoulders. Try to find a heating pad for all that! My doctor thinks its something vascular. I noticed how no one had said there doctors checked for anything like this and I though it would be good to point out. I also had testing for a bunch of other hormonal imbalances and they all came back negative. I noted that compression really helps my knees and ankles fell better and take to heat better. I have also found that the amount of pain will differ due to these causes: new weather fronts, amount of exercise, prolonged standing, and temperature outside. Its good to know that I am not the only one who is dealing with this odd condition. I am going to keep pursuing this until I get an answer that may not do anything but give me satisfaction, but at least I will feel better in the end.  

[asmgx]

Same here...
33 years old male with cold knees, been with me for years.
at this moment i am put my jacket on my knees to give them some warm.

I asked a doctor and he did not know about it, he said it could be blood does not reach your knees properly!

[daynagayle]

yep, me too. I'm now 58 and first started feeling cold and 'weak' knees about 5 years ago after kneeling in cold earth one day for a few hours planting. I'm over weight and losing slowly. Wheat and sugar seem to make knees worse. I can walk; just climbing stairs is hard and some days the movement of sitting hurts. Ibuprofen makes it feel better. after reading all your comments, I think it is an autoimmune reaction and poor circulation. the doc gave me a lotion to rub on knees which really reduced the pain. I'll try the glucosamine. knee supports do help and I take a warm fleece to cover my knees whenever I go. especially long sitting or driving makes it worse. all the best! dayna.

[meBlue]

I'm a 33 y.o. female - suffering from the cold knee/ankle pains since I can remember! As a child I literally had to cry myself to sleep rubbing my knees. What helped was an electrical pillow and hot water bottles.
I don't recollect being taken to any specialist but a GP never did anything for me.

The pains then stopped being so violent and I only suffered when I got cold and did not take a warm bath before going to bed. I was 'violent pain" free from the approx. age of 16 - 29.

It slowly crept in and now for the past 1.5 y. it's been unbearable at times. Only evenings and nights - the minute I start moving my feet in the morning it disappears.

I can write a 3 page summary of what contributes to the pain - the bottom line I still can't pint point exactly - getting cold is the major contributor.

I've always been skinny (never malnourished), very active kid with ice cold hands and feet. So poor circulation from the start and I do believe it is somehow genetically passes. No control over that.

My husband tells me (Pediatrician in training) I need to exercise to improve my circulation. Well, circulation will improve, no doubt, but my pains won't. I already know since sometimes after a workout my knees hurt more. If my legs (from just above the knee to just below the ankle) is exposed to our Ontarian wet and cold climate for long enough to get cold it will hurt at night 100%. Any sweat from exercising on my legs gets exposed to Ontario's breeze, my knees and ankles will hurt at night. Sometimes it is so bad I will get up in the middle of the night to take a warm bath.

I'm also a sporadic runner and I've noticed that besides the cold knee pains I now (from time to time) experience extreme cramps in my lower legs. Not sure if it is due to not properly stretching after each run or related to cold knees.

I also see some coloration with my period pains - they seem to increase during my period cramps.

What I found interesting is that you have mentioned vascular problem. This is also what my husband suggested I should get checked out. But 1.5 years later and I still haven't got around to!

Sometimes I feel the pain is part of my personality - something you are born with! I've never known anyone with similar condition but after reading all this I'm hopeful. I will bring this up with my GP and definitely ask about Glucosamine. I also believe that Yoga should help - not so sure about getting rid of it but worth trying.

[kat1981halko]

i am a serious cold knee sufferer!... i am 27 yrs old and I have had this problem for al long as I remember!  

i also have had sleepless nights will a dull aching feeling and don't get me started will the air con on a plane!!! ... what I have found useful is rubbing deep heat on my knees at night and then cover them up!... this and a quick prayer seems to help!

good luck guys!
kat

[erikstouffer]

I have cold thighs too, but there's a lot of fat on my thigh so I'm figuring it's keeping the cold out of my muscle. I'm just happy for it not to hurt, but I take sympathy that we all have this problem, damn annoying though, right

[erikstouffer]

I have cold thighs too, but there's a lot of fat on my thigh so I'm figuring it's keeping the cold out of my muscle. I'm just happy for it not to hurt, but I take sympathy that we all have this problem, damn annoying though, right