Researchers know that pain tends to flare up during hot, humid summer days, but all the reasons for this are unknown. Many chronic pain conditions seem to be affected, including osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, migraine and tension headaches, and aches from old injuries.
Temperature and humidity changes affect the way joint tissue contracts and expands. Because of this, hot and humid summers can make arthritis pain much worse.
Heat dilates, or widens blood vessels, allowing more inflammation to flow to an injured or painful area.
Hot temperatures can make pain feel worse, and for people with conditions like multiple sclerosis, heat can trigger Uhthoff's phenomenon, which causes worsening nerve pain. Cold temperatures can make joints feel stiffer and more painful, especially for people with arthritis.
When to use heat. “Heat actually has the opposite effect of ice,” Dr. Behr says. “It causes small blood vessels to open which can stimulate inflammation rather than relieve it.”
If you have arthritis, summer heat and humidity can increase your joint pain and make daily activities a challenge. Many people who have arthritis feel more discomfort as the weather changes throughout the year.
Many report that humidity, along with other factors such as temperature and weather changes and weather patterns, increase joint pain or trigger arthritis flares. For some, humidity and weather's effect on their joints is so bothersome that they seek relief by moving to drier, temperate climates.
However, some people with fibromyalgia find they easily overheat and have more severe symptoms when it's hot. Be cautious until you know how the sun and heat affect you.
WARM WEATHER CAN MAKE PAIN WORSE FOR FIBROMYALGIA PATIENTS AND MIGRAINE SUFFERERS. Heat impacts each person with chronic pain disorders differently. But there are two good examples that demonstrate the effects of heat: fibromyalgia and migraines.
In addition to a decreased body temperature, research shows that people with FMS have trouble adapting to temperature changes and have a reduced pain threshold to both heat and cold stimuli—meaning it takes less extreme temperatures to make you feel pain.
Some chronic medical conditions may make you more prone to heat intolerance, including: Heart disease. Hyperthyroidism and Graves' disease. Mental illness.
Nerve pain often feels like a shooting, stabbing or burning sensation. Sometimes it can feel as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. You may be very sensitive to touch or cold. You may also experience pain as a result of touch that would not normally be painful, such as something lightly brushing your skin.
However, many people diagnosed with fibromyalgia say that weather has an effect on how they feel. Sudden drops in barometric pressure, as well as extreme temperatures may make pain much worse. Though it may not help all fibromyalgia sufferers, finding a better climate may help ease some symptoms of this condition.
Results: There were four parent stages of FM identified and labeled: 1) regional FM with classic symptoms; 2) generalized FM with increasing widespread pain and some additional symptoms; 3) FM with advanced and associated conditions, increasing widespread pain, increased sleep disturbances, and chemical sensitivity; ...
The main symptoms of fibromyalgia are: Chronic, widespread pain throughout the body or at multiple sites. Pain is often felt in the arms, legs, head, chest, abdomen, back, and buttocks. People often describe it as aching, burning, or throbbing.
Currently, there are no specific laboratory or imaging tests for fibromyalgia. The main symptoms—pain and fatigue—are shared with many other conditions, so doctors typically try to rule out other causes for your symptoms. Doctors may do the following to diagnose fibromyalgia: Take your medical history.
Flare-ups of mild to severe pain come on suddenly and may feel like aching, throbbing, burning, or stabbing. The pain may be present in multiple tender points throughout the body, often affecting the lower back and legs.
The pain may be worse in the morning and evening. Sometimes, the pain may last all day long. The pain may get worse with activity, cold or damp weather, anxiety, and stress. This condition is more often diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50.
Extreme sensitivity. Fibromyalgia can make you extremely sensitive to pain all over your body, and you may find that even the slightest touch is painful. If you hurt yourself, such as stubbing your toe, the pain may continue for much longer than it normally would.
This study showed that cold, damp conditions lead to elevated pain levels in people with arthritis, while dry, hot conditions tend to cause less discomfort.
Humid weather especially causes already sensitive or inflamed tissues to expand, increasing pain for arthritis sufferers.
Many people who have arthritis or a related disease may be living with chronic pain. Pain is chronic when it lasts three to six months or longer, but arthritis pain can last a lifetime. It may be constant, or it may come and go.
Electrolytes include important minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, which help our muscles function properly. When we sweat, we lose electrolytes and some of these minerals in high concentrations, and this can lead to muscle cramps.
Consuming high-purine foods like shellfish or beer, becoming dehydrated, experiencing sudden changes in kidney function, or local trauma to a joint (like stubbing your big toe) can also trigger flares. Taking urate-lowering medicines should lessen the likelihood of having a flare due to these triggers.