Why pains get worse with changing weather; understand – 04/04/2023 – Equilibrium

Why do old injuries hurt more when the weather changes?

There are many reasons we dislike cold, rainy weather, including its potential effects on the body. Many people say that pain from old injuries like fractures or sprains and from chronic conditions like arthritis gets worse when it’s cold or raining. Hippocrates complained about the same thing 2,500 years ago.

“It’s something I’ve noticed in my patients,” says Jennifer Moriatis
Wolf, professor of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at the University of Chicago Medicine. “Patients tell me, ‘I know when it’s going to rain. I know when it’s going to snow.’

Doctors agree that these complaints are common, but the reasons for the phenomenon are still unclear. The issue has been poorly researched so far, and some of the few studies that exist lead to confusing and contradictory conclusions. Other studies, however, seem to suggest that changes in the weather can cause swelling and affect how the nerves surrounding injured or inflamed tissues communicate with the brain. This brings back pain sensations or intensifies them.

Is there really a link between weather conditions and pain?

The answer depends on who you ask the question. A study published in 2016 investigated the link between weather conditions and pain linked to broken bones. Researchers examined data from 2,369 physician visits after patients suffered fractures. At follow-up appointments, researchers asked patients how much pain they were in and recorded the day’s local weather data, including temperature, air humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

Patients reported more pain at their follow-up appointments after one year when atmospheric pressure (which often drops before storms and cold fronts arrive) was low and relative humidity was above 70%. But the study did not find that low temperature made the pain worse. Instead, surprisingly, patients reported being in more pain when the outside temperature was above 35 degrees.

Studies investigating the link between weather conditions and pain associated with chronic health problems are somewhat baffling. In a 2019 study titled “Cloudy With a Chance of Pain,” researchers analyzed pain levels recorded via smartphone over 15 months by 2,658 people who suffered from chronic pain issues. .

They examined the pain levels of patients recorded under various local weather conditions and found that pain worsened with increasing humidity and falling atmospheric pressure. But the study did not find a link between pain and outdoor temperature.

A 2007 study had virtually opposite results: pain associated with arthritis in the knees increased with every ten-degree drop in temperature, but decreased with a drop in atmospheric pressure. Other work found no link between changes in temperature and pain resulting from arthritis in the hips.

For William G. Dixon, a rheumatologist and public health researcher at the University of Manchester, in England, and co-author of the study involving smartphones, it is likely that the results are not consistent with each other because the studies were small and “performed in different ways”. That is, they involved people with different health problems, evaluated pain in different ways and took into account different meteorological variables. Therefore, for him, it is not surprising that they pointed to divergent results.

Why is my pain worse and what can I do?

Although human studies have conflicting results, a small number of animal studies support the idea that changing weather conditions can affect chronic and acute pain. One study, for example, showed that arthritic rats exhibit more pain-related behaviors when they are in environments with low temperature and low atmospheric pressure.

There are some possible explanations as well: perhaps the pain is made worse by the way the nerves react to the environment. Research has reported that the nerves in rats that communicate pain sensations to the brain become more active under lower atmospheric pressure. Why? “A change in barometric pressure causes the nerves to become more sensitive and irritable,” says Wolf, who was not involved in the study. It is possible that the same thing will happen to humans.

Researchers have also found that drops in atmospheric pressure may be linked to tissue swelling, which can cause pain. A 2014 study found that when air pressure drops, the connective tissue around the joints of people with rheumatoid arthritis expands, causing pain and tenderness.

While a link between pain and low temperature has not been proven, Timothy E. McAlindon, director of rheumatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, thinks it would make sense for one to exist. People are advised to warm up before exercising, in part because it helps relax muscles and connective tissues. So, he points out, it makes sense that “cold can stiffen connective tissues,” causing pain.

There are still many unanswered questions, but experts say they don’t doubt the existence of a link between weather conditions and pain. “I think it’s real, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Wolf points out.

For people experiencing weather-related pain, she recommended using a thermal gel pack to heat the affected part. Pain induced by changes in atmospheric pressure can be more intractable, says Dixon, but some arthritis patients experience relief when wearing compression gloves and the like.

Many patients say they would like to be able to completely avoid weather triggers for pain.

In Dixon’s office, he receives many ironic requests from patients, something like “Can you prescribe me a move to Spain?”

Translated by Clara Allain