Monday, January 27, 2014

It's not the sub zero that makes me hurt, it's the SHIFTS back and forth ...

So here in NNY, we just went through yet another stretch of sub-zero temps and I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I didn't feel "worse". My no stretch of the matter, was I feeling good, but I wasn't feeling worse. However last night overnight, the temps shifted up into the 20's and I am not sitting here with extremely sore hips, ankles, feet & hands. DARN!

This got me searching the internet this morning for scientific data to support how I'm feeling. I found a pretty interesting article that pointed me to an old study by Dr Hollander, in which he built a climate chamber and demonstrated that high humidity combined with low barometric pressure were associated with increased joint pain and stiffness. The theory of the study was that inflamed joints swell as the barometric pressure drops. The swelling irritates the nerves around the joints that sense pain and causes more stiffness.

So off to look at the barometer data for the last day or so. Currently the humidity is high and the barometer is now climbing up a bit after having taken a dip yesterday/last night. So I would say that for me personally this "theory" holds true.

Another interesting little thing I found in my search comes from weatherbug.com which has an "aches & pains" forecast, cool right? So you can check that out here and see for your area what it has to say. Aches & Pains Forecast on Weatherbug

Overall what I already knew, I've spent some time validating. Dramatic changes in humidity, temperature and barometric pressure can and does affect pain of arthritis.

And with that, I am off to take a hot shower and see if I can get moving today.

Happy Monday! Sarah

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