Do the Effects of Cold Weather Really Cause Neck, Back and Joint Pain?

back painYou might have heard people saying that their joint and back pain is so much worse in the winter months.  You probably thought they might have been embellishing or being a little over dramatic.  The winter, does in fact, make your joint pain worse and can be quite debilitating for some.  In fact, some can actually predict the cold weather approaching by how much pain they are in.  This is actually a symptom, with an actual name, it is called Cold Allodynia.  People with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis, just to name a few, are all subject to being in more pain during the winter months.

Let’s not go too much into it, but the main point is that the cold weather can actually shrink the tissues causing them to pull on the nerve endings, thus causing joint pain.  When it is cold your nerve endings are extremely sensitive and the muscles surrounding your nerves tense up.  When the barometric pressure drops, there is less atmospheric pressure to hold the tissues back and it causes more inflamed tissue to swell.  If you climbed to the top of Mount Fuji, the barometric pressure would drop and you would most certainly get joint pain in the neck or back.  This is called the pressure factor.