Some people who have ostensibly recovered from auto accident injuries experience life-long reminders of the event in the form of chronic or reoccurring pain. There are some who are convinced the weather causes old injuries to reassert themselves in the form of achy or inflamed joints.
Weather-related body aches may seem like nothing more than superstition, but research shows there’s actually medical validity to some of these experiences. According to the International Association of the Study of Pain, there is a correlation between weather and pain. The majority (63 percent) of the studies conducted by the association concluded that it’s not uncommon for people to be weather-sensitive and experience increased pain and inflammation in response to changing meteorological conditions.
While scientists recognize a correlation between weather and pain, the exact reasons behind this relationship remain largely unknown. However, there are some theories that explain why your joints hurt more when a storm is brewing or that old shoulder pain comes back in cold weather.
Many scientists speculate that weather-related pain is chiefly about changes in barometric pressure. The atmosphere has weight, and the barometric pressure is the weight of the atmosphere pushing down on the Earth.
People tend to associate their achy joints with rainy and overcast weather, but rather than rain, low barometric pressure is likely to blame for their pain. How could this be? When it rains, the air pressure drops significantly, which means less air is pressing against your body. As a result, your tissue expands and puts pressure put on your joints and nerves, which may cause you to feel more pain.
Conversely, when the barometric pressure is high, it pushes against your body and limits the expansion of tissue, which may help keep your pain at bay.
Just like changes in barometric pressure can affect how you feel, high humidity can also cause your pain to worsen.
The more humid the climate you live in is, the more likely you are to experience pain. High humidity can cause your muscles to expand, which similarly to low barometric pressure, may cause pain in your joints and nerves.
People living in hot and humid climates are prone to dehydration. When your body is dehydrated, there is less fluid around your joints, which may cause increased joint pain and inflammation. If you live in or near Atlanta, your reoccurring pain may be exacerbated by the city’s humid subtropical climate.
There are many conditions that can be triggered by weather events like changes in barometric pressure, precipitation and humidity. These conditions include joint and nerve pain from injuries, as well as a wide range of chronic conditions like scoliosis, sciatica, spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis and arthritis.
Although you cannot escape changes in the weather, there are several things you can do to alleviate pain and inflammation. If you’re looking to find relief from weather-related flare-ups, consider taking these steps:
If you’ve been hurt in an accident in Georgia, you may be left with debilitating pain and other symptoms affecting your everyday life. At HURT911, our board-certified medical doctors and chiropractors are committed to treating a variety of accident-related injuries, including whiplash, shoulder pain and head injuries.
Don’t wait until your condition gets worse. Contact us at 1-800-HURT911 to schedule your same-day appointment.