I’ve been knitting. It’s such a weird hobby to pick up when you have two 18-month olds in the dead of summer. The knitting isn’t the point though, it’s what the knitting has revealed that’s a problem.
I will be 35 years old on Friday, and I am pretty sure I have arthritis. When my hands first started hurting, I went to dark places very quickly. I went from arthritis to my deathbed (and the stress of paying for my funeral) in a few seconds.
Fortunately, with two kids there isn’t much time to focus on anything, so I moved on to the next thought pretty quickly. I started wondering if my chronic dehydration might be a contributing factor…
A quick Google search revealed that dehydration can cause joint pain because water has a lubricating effect on the joints. Insufficient hydration leads to insufficient synovial fluid, which means your bones don’t have that nice cushion that keeps them from coming into contact.
So yes, the fact that I sometimes go days drinking coffee and coffee alone is probably high on the list of reasons that an active 35 year old who eats nothing but fruits, vegetables, and whole grains would have arthritis.
Only time will tell if increasing my water intake will fix this problem or if I’m destined for a life of achy hands and ankled.
Stay tuned.