Anecdotally, we’ve all heard stories of people who have arthritis and say it worsens when the weather changes. The question though is, does the weather actually have anything to do with it?  According to a recent study out of Harvard Medical School, the answer is yes.

The survey asked current arthritis pain suffers from multiple US cities if they felt their pain get worse when the weather changed. The study looked at individuals from cities with widely varying weather including San Diego, Boston, and Nashville Tennessee.

The results of the survey showed that over two thirds of those surveyed said that they were sure that weather changes affected their pain. They stated they could feel their pain change prior to the cold weather or the rain occurring.

The researchers from the study felt that it was not necessarily the rain or the cold or the snow that caused the arthritis pain to worsen, it was the change in the barometric pressure.

Barometric pressure is also known as atmospheric pressure and involves pressure being exerted on the atmosphere and also the human body. When barometric pressure drops, tissues in the body have less resistance and they start to expand. This expansion can place pressure on nerves that Allow the body to feel more pain.

According to the researchers, it doesn’t take a lot of pressure change to affect the pain trigger.  A lot of people think that living in a drier climate may help. It is felt that the dry climate will prevent these barometric pressure changes, but this is actually a myth.

The body actually adapts to the barometric pressure of whatever the baseline is in that region.  Since it only takes a small amount of a change of pressure to spark up pain, even if someone lives in a desert area they still experience the pain from barometric pressure changes.

Living in Arizona therefore, does not necessarily take away extensive arthritis pain with weather changes. If you are dealing with pain from arthritis, Call Arizona Pain Specialists, the Arizona pain center that has Double Board Certified pain doctors, physical rehabilitation providers, chiropractors in Phoenix, and licensed acupuncture providers.

Arizona Pain Specialists has AZ pain management clinics throughout the greater Phoenix and Scottsdale areas. They take all major medical insurances along with personal-injury liens, Worker’s Compensation, Medicare and self-pay. They also take multiple Medicaid plans including Mercy care and API PA and PHP.

Call 602-507-6550 to get help with your arthritis pain today.