Do you feel like you can predict your weather based on how much your joints ache? You’re not imagining things! Research has shown that discomfort levels have a direct correlation to weather changes. In Rochester, NY where the weather can change by the hour, your joints can go through a lot on any given day! The main factors in the weather changes that can affect your joints are barometric pressure and temperature.
When bad weather is on the way, the pressure outside will be lower than usual (you may hear the meteorologist say that there is a “low pressure front” on the way). Think of your discs, joints, and tissues as balloons - when there is low pressure outside, the pressure in your discs, joints, and tissues can increase and swell which can activate pain-sensitive receptors.
The other weather change that may factor into how your joints are feeling is the temperature. When bad weather is coming or when the seasons change, the temperature outside can fall pretty dramatically. When there is lower temperature, your tissues and joints become generally stiffer. This stiffness can affect your range of motion and make it difficult to get going.
While weather can certainly affect how your joints feel, it is only one factor that determines your day-to-day discomfort. While you can’t control mother nature, you can control the other factors that determine your pain and discomfort.
Some simple tips to help control your pain during bad weather include:
- Keeping yourself warm when the temperature is low, especially the small joints of the hands an feet
- Don’t skip your workout just because the weather is bad, consider exercising indoors during bad weather to keep yourself mobile
- Perform some gentle stretches in the morning to get yourself going and throughout the day to stay limber
- Try taking a warm bath or using a hot tub to keep your body warmer
While these tips can help you manage your symptoms, resolving your posture, muscle, and joint imbalances can have a dramatic impact on how you feel day-to-day. If you or someone you know is a human barometer and the family meteorologist, see your Rochester, NY chiropractor at Rush-Henrietta Family Chiropractic to start feeling better!
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