Why Your Nerves Have a Harder Time in Winter

Every year around this time, my inbox changes.

The questions stop being about hot pavement and summer swelling. They start sounding like this:

Here’s the short answer. Winter stacks several small stresses on your nerves at the same time. Colder air. Less daylight. Drier skin. Heavier meals. More sitting. Any one of them is manageable. Together, they add up.

The good news is that most of them are things you can do something about.

I’ve put each one below with a plain explanation of what’s going on and what I’d do about it. Read the whole guide, or jump to the part that sounds like you.

The Cold

What’s happening

When you get cold, your body protects your core by narrowing the blood vessels in your hands and feet. That’s normal. But your nerves depend on that blood flow for oxygen and nutrients, and cold nerves also send signals more slowly.

For nerves that are already irritated, that combination can turn up the tingling, aching or burning.

And sometimes the cold isn’t real. The small fibers that sense temperature can misfire and report “cold” when the skin is actually warm. If your feet feel like ice but are warm to the touch, that’s often what’s going on.

Shorter Days

What’s happening

From November on, most of us get far less sunlight. That matters because your skin makes vitamin D from sunlight, and vitamin D levels commonly drop over the winter.

Research has linked low vitamin D with more nerve discomfort, especially in people with blood-sugar-related nerve problems. Researchers are still sorting out exactly how much it matters, but it’s an easy thing to check.

Shorter days also mean less activity and more time indoors, which brings its own problems (see section 6).

Storms and Weather Changes

What’s happening

Many people tell me their feet can “predict” a storm. The aching or burning picks up a day before rain or snow.

I’ll be honest with you: the research on weather and nerve pain is mixed. Some studies find a connection with drops in air pressure and cold, damp air. Others don’t. But I’ve heard it from enough people that I take it seriously. A likely part of it is simply that stormy days are colder, damper and less active.

Dry Indoor Heat

What’s happening

Furnaces and space heaters dry the air, and dry air dries your skin. On the feet, that means cracks, especially around the heels.

If you have reduced feeling in your feet, a crack can go unnoticed. And a crack is an opening. Small sores on numb feet can turn into bigger problems if no one catches them.

Holiday Food and Drink

What’s happening

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, most of us eat more sugar, more refined carbs and bigger meals than usual. Big swings in blood sugar are hard on nerves, and for people whose nerve problems are related to blood sugar, those swings matter even more.

Alcohol is the other one. It’s directly hard on nerves, and it can drain some of the B vitamins nerves depend on. A drink at a holiday dinner isn’t the issue. A month of extra drinks can be.

Travel and Long Sits

What’s happening

Winter means long car rides to family, long flights, long dinners and long evenings on the couch. When you sit for hours, blood pools in your lower legs and your feet stop sending and receiving much information.

That’s why many people feel worse after a holiday trip than during it. The nerves were quiet for hours, then asked to work all at once.

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