Sunday, March 14, 2010

Effects of the Weather on Pain

For the past few days it has been pouring rain around where I live, and for the past few mornings I have noticed that my body has been more achy than normal. Nothing that I can think of about my regular routine has changed, nor about my work-out routine. Therefore, one of my first thoughts was, could it be the weather? I have heard from many people that the weather affects their pain levels, yet Timothy Lawson, author of Scientific Perspectives on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, says that this is not the case. I decided to find more evidence, and discovered a study on the John Hopkins website.
Two recent studies were described in the article on arthritis pain and weather. One study was done with 183 people separated into four groups: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyaglia, and no arthritis. All of the people lived in Argentina, which has a warmer climate, and kept a journal on their levels of pain for a year. These reports were then matched with reports on the humidity, barometric pressure, and temperature. Apparently, all three groups with arthritis felt pain whenever the weather was cooler. High humidity and high pressure also affected each of the patients with arthritis; either one or the other or both caused pain in the groups. However, the article states that "the associations were not strong enough to allow pain to predict weather, or vice versa."
The second study looked at people in Florida with arthritis in spots like the hand, foot, or knee. This time, records were kept for two years, and there were absolutely no associations between the weather conditions and pain. Bottom line of the article is that weather has been proven in objective studies to have no affect whatsoever on the actual course of arthritis, but it may affect the symptoms. I guess I can conclude that Timothy Lawson is not pulling my leg, and I probably just slept wrong the past few days... Although, what a coincidence!


  1. I've always thought that the weather did have an effect on pain. I felt the same way as you and coincidentally, it was always raining. Although there are studies showing that it doesn't have any effects, I still feel like there must be something other than coincidence that causes us pain during rainy days.

  2. I think the weather does have an effect on pain.I broke my wrist a few years back and when it rains I experience a lot of pain and discomfort.