Weather And Pain: Related Or Not?

Does weather really influence pain? Writing in the Boston Globe, Courtney Humphries comes close to answering the question, at least with some pain. Humphries cites a 2007 study by Tufts Medical Center researchers that found that changes in barometric pressure and outdoor temperature affected the pain reported by patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Wait, there’s more: including a survey by shrinks at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital that found that a majority of chronic pain patients reported that weather changes affected their pain. Humphries reports that  studies have tied weather patterns to the incidence of headaches, and changes in atmospheric temperature to the number of patients reporting to an emergency clinic with acute dental pain. Cold weather, in particular, can jack up the pain by tightening muscles and ligaments. Read more in the Boston Globe.