Researchers Find No Clear Link Between Weather and Pain

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

The Greek philosopher Hippocrates in 400 B.C was one of the first to suggest that changes in the weather can worsen pain conditions. Since then, a large body of folklore and personal anecdotes have reinforced that belief – although the science behind it is mixed, at best.

A large new systematic review – a study of studies – is once again throwing cold water on the common belief that chilly, rainy weather can trigger muscle and joint pain.

“There is a common perception that there is an increase of musculoskeletal symptoms such as back pain, hip pain or arthritic symptoms during certain types of weather,” said lead author Manuela Ferreira, PhD, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Bone and Joint Research, the University of Sydney. “Our research challenges that thinking by showing that come rain or shine, weather has no direct link with most of our aches and pains.”

Ferreira and her colleagues started out by reviewing over 1,100 studies involving weather and pain, rejecting most because they were small or poor quality. Only eleven studies met their criteria for inclusion. An analysis of those studies found no sign that humidity, air pressure, temperature or precipitation significantly raise the risk of a pain flare from rheumatoid arthritis or low back and knee pain.

But they did find evidence that a combination of warm temperatures and low humidity is associated with a higher risk of a pain flare in people with gout, a form of arthritis that causes severe pain and swelling in the joints of the feet and lower legs.

The study was published in the journal Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.

“Although changes in weather conditions are frequently described by patients as triggers for pain and other symptom exacerbation, they do not appear to be significant risks for knee, hip, low back pain, or headache exacerbation, and have a small influence in symptom exacerbation of gout disease,” researchers concluded.

A 2017 study in Australia had similar findings, showing no association between back pain and changes in temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction or precipitation. Damp weather appeared to make people more aware of their pain, but the symptoms disappeared as soon as the sun came out – suggesting there’s a psychological cause.

Another recent study in the UK found only a modest association between weather and pain. The Cloudy with a Chance of Pain study collected data from 10,500 people who recorded their daily pain levels on a smartphone app for over a year. The GPS location of their phones was then compared to local weather conditions. Participants reported feeling more pain on days with low barometric pressure – and the wet and windy weather that usually comes with it.

Hippocrates may or may not have a point, but researchers say people in pain would be better off paying less attention to the weather and more on getting treatment.

“When seeking pain prevention and relief, both patients and clinicians should focus on how to best manage the condition, including weight management and exercises, and not focus on the weather and let it influence treatment,” says Ferreira.

UK Study Finds Weather Can Worsen Chronic Pain

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

Do you feel “under the weather” when its rainy and cold outside? About 75% of chronic pain sufferers believe certain weather conditions can aggravate their pain. Some even think they can predict a storm coming because they “can feel it in their bones.”

A new analysis of weather patterns in the United Kingdom suggests there may be some truth to those old clichés.

For 15 months, researchers at the University Manchester collected data from over 10,500 UK residents, who recorded their daily pain levels on a smartphone app. The GPS location of their phones was then compared to local weather conditions.

The study found a modest association between weather and pain, with people more likely to feel pain on days with low barometric pressure – and the wet and windy weather that usually comes with it.

The key appears to be the upper level jet stream – a narrow band of air currents that circle the globe several miles above the earth. On days when the jet stream was aimed right at the UK, with above normal wind, humidity and precipitation, about 23% of people reported more pain.

But when the jet stream blew north of the UK, and pressure was above normal with less humidity and precipitation, only 10% of people reported higher pain levels.

“Although the weather may not be the primary cause of people’s pain, our results through multiple independent methodologies demonstrate that weather does modulate pain in at least some individuals,” lead author David Schultz reported in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

“The results of this project should give comfort and support to those who have claimed that the weather affects their pain, but have been dismissed by their friends, their coworkers, and even their doctors.“

The new analysis builds on earlier research from the Cloudy With a Chance of Pain study, which is the largest in both duration and number of participants to examine the link between weather and pain.  Previous studies have found little or no association between the two.

A 2014 Australian study, for example, found that acute low back pain was not associated with variations in temperature, humidity and rain.  And a 2013 Dutch study concluded that weather had no impact on fibromyalgia symptoms in women.

“Part of the reason for this lack of consensus is that previous researchers have treated the different measures of the weather such as pressure, temperature, humidity separately, which assumes that one could vary the temperature while holding all of the other weather measures fixed. Of course, the real atmosphere does not behave like this, as all the variables are changing simultaneously,” says Schultz.

Schultz and his colleagues plan to further study the data to see how environmental conditions modulate pain, insight that could be used to develop better treatments and individualized pain forecasts.

Humidity and Wind Affect Pain Levels, But Rain Doesn’t

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

Many people with chronic pain strongly believe that rainy or cold weather aggravates their pain. Some even believe they can predict the weather based on their pain levels. 

But the results of a long-term study in the UK – recently published in the journal Digital Medicine -- show that weather conditions have only a modest effect on pain.

Researchers at the University of Manchester led a 15-month study of over 2,600 UK residents who recorded their daily pain levels with a smartphone app. The results were then compared with local weather conditions, based on the GPS locations of the participants’ phones.

Contrary to popular belief, rainfall was not associated with more pain. Results from the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain study showed that humid days were most likely to be painful, followed by days with low atmospheric pressure and strong winds. But the overall effect was modest, even when all three conditions were present.

“The analysis showed that on a damp and windy days with low pressure the chances of experiencing more pain, compared to an average day, was around 20%. This would mean that, if your chances of a painful day on an average weather day were 5 in 100, they would increase to 6 in 100 on a damp and windy day,” said lead author Will Dixon, PhD, Professor of Digital Epidemiology at the University of Manchester.

Dixon and his colleagues believe the study could be used to develop a “pain forecast” for people with chronic pain.

“This would allow people who suffer from chronic pain to plan their activities, completing harder tasks on days predicted to have lower levels of pain. The dataset will also provide information to scientists interested in understanding the mechanisms of pain, which could ultimately open the door to new treatments,” Dixon said.  

A 2017 study by Australian researchers at The George Institute for Global Health also found that damp weather increases pain. But because the symptoms disappeared as soon as the sun came out, researchers believe they could be influenced by psychological factors, not the weather itself. Previous studies on back pain, osteoarthritis and weather at The George Institute had similar findings.

The Greek philosopher Hippocrates in 400 B.C was one of the first to note that changes in the weather can affect pain levels. Although a large body of folklore has reinforced the belief that there is a link between weather and pain, the science behind it is mixed.

Experts Say Weather’s Not to Blame for Your Pain

By Pat Anson, Editor

The age old debate over weather’s impact on pain is heating up again with new research indicating that cold, rainy weather has no impact on symptoms associated with back pain or osteoarthritis.

Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health in Australia say damp weather makes people more aware of their pain, but the symptoms disappear as soon as the sun comes out – suggesting there’s a psychological cause.

“Human beings are very susceptible so it’s easy to see why we might only take note of pain on the days when it’s cold and rainy outside, but discount the days when they have symptoms but the weather is mild and sunny,” said Professor Chris Maher, director of the George Institute’s Musculoskeletal Division.  

“The belief that pain and inclement weather are linked dates back to Roman times. But our research suggests this belief may be based on the fact that people recall events that confirm their pre-existing views.”

Maher and his colleagues conducted two studies involving nearly 1,000 Australians with back pain and 345 people with osteoarthritis.

Using weather data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, researchers compared the weather at the time patients first noticed pain with weather conditions one week and one month before the onset of pain as a control measure. 

Results showed no association between back pain and temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction or precipitation. Warmer temperatures did slightly increase the chances of lower back pain, but the amount of the increase was not clinically important. 

A previous study on back pain and weather at The George Institute had similar findings, but received widespread criticism from the public.

“People were adamant that adverse weather conditions worsened their symptoms so we decided to go ahead with a new study based on data from new patients with both lower back pain and osteoarthritis. The results though were almost exactly the same – there is absolutely no link between pain and the weather in these conditions,” said Maher.

The back pain study was published in the journal Pain Medicine. The study on osteoarthritis was published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.

“People who suffer from either of these conditions should not focus on the weather as it does not have an important influence on your symptoms and it is outside your control,” said Associate Professor Manuela Ferreira.

The Greek philosopher Hippocrates in 400 B.C was one of the first to note that changes in the weather can affect pain levels. Although a large body of folklore has reinforced the belief that there is a link between weather and pain, the science behind it is mixed.

PNN readers say there’s little doubt in their minds that there’s a connection.

“I totally agree that rainy weather does affect pain. I have osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, and pain is most severe when there is a change happening in the weather especially rain,” wrote Dee.

“It's been well established that the source of weather-related pain is a direct result from the variance in barometric pressure,” said Judith Bohr. “Changes in the intensity of that pressure is felt more acutely in the parts of the body where there are injuries, degenerative changes, surgeries, wherever there is an increased sensitivity because of inflammation.”

Others say they can predict the weather based on their pain levels.

“So many sunny days and I've said it’s going to rain. People thought I was crazy for a while, but now they know,” said Ashley. “My kids are always asking if it’s going to rain.”

A study currently underway in England suggests there is a connection between weather and pain. Over 9,000 people are participating in The University of Manchester’s Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project, using a special app on their smartphones to record their daily pain levels. The app also captures hourly weather conditions.

Preliminary results show that as the number of sunny days increase, the amount of time participants spend in severe pain decreases. When the weather turns rainy and cloudy, however, the amount of time people spent in severe pain increases.