| Does weather really affect the severity of your joint | | | | same way that cold temperatures would affect the |
| pain? Though, I've often wondered this myself, | | | | oil that you use to lubricate your car's engine. |
| intuitively I've often felt quite sure that there is a | | | | In terms of how barometric pressure affects your |
| relationship between weather conditions and my own | | | | arthritis pain, they had some ideas in this regard as |
| joint pain. In fact, most people with arthritis assert | | | | well. They cited cadaver studies which show that the |
| with conviction that weather conditions do influence | | | | intra-articular pressure (pressure inside of your joint) |
| the severity of their pain (Laborde et al, 1986). | | | | is actually much lower than atmospheric pressure. |
| Despite our strongly held convictions with respect to | | | | Consequently, increases in barometric pressure may |
| the question as to whether or not weather impacts | | | | actually affect your joint biomechanics. |
| the severity of joint pain, I recently read a clinical trial | | | | Now that we've established the association between |
| which tested this hypothesis. In a recent article | | | | cold weather, increases in barometric pressure, and |
| published in the American Journal of Medicine | | | | joint pain, where does that leave us? If you are one |
| (McAlindon et al, 2007), they studied 200 | | | | of the millions of Canadians or Americans who suffer |
| geographically isolated individuals with osteoarthritis of | | | | from Arthritis, now that winter is upon us, there are |
| the knee. Not surprisingly, their study results | | | | two simple options for minimizing the impact of |
| confirmed that both cold weather as well as | | | | weather on your arthritis pain. The simplest solution, |
| increases in atmospheric pressure are both associated | | | | particularly if you live in very cold weather climate, is |
| with an increase in joint pain severity. | | | | to minimize your exposure to the outdoors-as much |
| In addition to these recent findings, they also offered | | | | as possible. At the very least, be cognizant of how |
| some plausible explanations of why cold weather as | | | | your exposure to the cold affects your joint pain. |
| well as increases in barometric pressure have an | | | | Secondly, if possible, it gives you one more excuse |
| impact on arthritis pain severity. They hypothesized | | | | to take a warm vacation during the winter months. |
| that cold temperatures, for example, could have a | | | | References: |
| direct effect on the viscosity of synovial fluid or | | | | McAlindon T, Formica M, Schmid CH, Fletcher J. |
| indirect effects on inflammatory mediators. Basically, | | | | Changes in barometric pressure and ambient |
| this means that cold temperatures could increase the | | | | temperature influence osteoarthritis pain. Am J Med. |
| viscosity or thickness of your joint fluid in much the | | | | 2007 May;120(5):429-34. |