Freedom from winter aches!

If chilly weather, dreary skies and being cooped up indoors are making you feel achy, these natural fixes can limber you up-fast!

- Brenda Kearns

Nature's remedy for bumps and bruises

If you bump your leg into the coffee table or drop something on your foot, reach for arnica. The herbal extract brims with tissue-healing compounds. Swiss scientists say applying arnica gel to a fresh ouch halts pain and swelling in 5 minutes. And applying it four times daily for three days stops a bruise from forming. Try: MagniLife Arnica Pain Relief Gel (MagniLife.com).

Alleviate knee pain with EVOO massages

Between chilly temperatures, shoveling snow and trying to stay steady on icy sidewalks, it's no wonder knee pain flares up at this time of year. To the rescue: extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). A study in the journal Dermatology Research and Practice found massaging EVOO into achy knees three times daily significantly tamps down swelling, achiness and stiffness. Credit goes to the oil's rich stores of a powerful natural anti-inflammatory called oleocanthal.

OR SET A 'BEND AND STRETCH' TIMER! 

To quickly bounce back from a bout of knee pain, set a timer to remind yourself to gently bend and stretch your legs for 2 minutes each hour. This simple trick has the power to boost healing blood flow and loosen tight muscles and tendons, cutting knee discomfort in half, say Concordia University investigators.

Heal sore muscles with a baked potato