Unfortunately, so many of us seem to feel some type of unexplainable pain, at some point in our lives. While so many people are ailing from different pains and strains that they are unable to remember the cause of, there are a few different “mystery” pains that seem to affect a large number of healthy individuals. One of these mysterious sensory occurrences, that many people are affected by, is the phenomenon of feeling joint pain with the weather change.
Why Do Joints Hurt When Weather Changes?
Many of us, especially when we were younger, have heard some of our older family members complain about joint pain and weather changes that are causing it. It is all too common to hear our grandparents tell us that they know it is about to rain because their knees or some other tender joint starts hurting a few hours before every downpour.
At first most of us probably rolled our eyes at this notion, but when they started to predict the weather quite accurately (if not perfectly), then we quickly realized that there was actually some fact to these predictions. While most of us can point to tons of past anecdotal evidence from our elder family members and friends about this seemingly odd but persistent connection, the question remains – is there actually any real scientific evidence to point towards an actual root cause for this phenomena?
Scientific Evidence on The Connection of Joint Pain With Weather Change
As a matter of fact, scientists have been trying to make the elusive link between joint pain and weather for decades. However, this question is much easier to ask than it is to find concrete evidence on.
While the scientific answer to this connection has been tough to fully flush out, most of the scientific research does seem to point to a link between joints and bones that have been weakened by age or injury and perceived sensitivity to changes (especially during drops) in barometric pressure. Barometric pressure is a commonly used measurement of the density of the Earth’s atmosphere. Whenever a change in barometric pressure occurs, it typically indicates a change that is about to occur in local weather patterns.
However, in order to fully understand and monitor the mechanisms that are in control of the pain that is felt during weather changes, scientific researchers would have to go into affected joints and bones in an invasive manner. Since this is not an ideal process for the patients, no definitive study on this puzzling pain paradox has yet occurred. Instead, researchers have had to find other ways to build a compelling hypothesis to why these strange pains occur.
It’s Just Joint Fluid?
Researchers have put together a compelling hypothesis that seems to fully explain this curious peculiarity; by enacting various studies that monitored the changes in cadavers’ joint fluid, of arthritic patients in pressure controlled chambers, while also collecting a vast amount of anecdotal evidence of people suffering from weather-related pain and matching them up to corresponding weather reports.
It seems that changes in atmospheric pressure cause a change in joint’s fluid pressure. The fluid inside your joints helps them stay healthy, fluid, and moving properly. If a joint is injured, or arthritic, the change in the fluid pressure, that corresponds to the barometric pressure in the atmosphere, can irritate the already inflamed joints. And so far, this is the best answer that we have for the connection between joint pain and weather.
If you, or a loved one, is suffering from any type of joint pain (weather-related or not), please give our chiropractors at Fix24 Joint BioMechanics a call! We would love to help you start a treatment plan, today!
