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Temperature Variations With Headaches & Joint Pain

Weather affects joint pain in those suffering from arthritis as well as provoke headaches. When the barometric pressure fluctuates and the temperature changes, headaches strike and joints start to ache.

  1. Barometric Pressure

    • Dr. John Parenti, director of the Orthopedics Department at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania, notes that barometric pressure causes joint pain when the weather changes because pressure affects the joints. He explains that the nerve endings on joints have baro-receptors that can sense when the pressure changes.

    Identification

    • Baro-receptors are especially reactive when the weather has gone from dry to moist and the barometric pressure falls, according to Science Daily and leading joint specialist, Javad Parvizi, M.D., Ph.D., of the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

    Headaches

    • Migraineurs, those who regularly suffer from migraines, report the occurrence of headaches when the barometric pressure goes down or when it becomes humid.

    Pressure

    • According to USA Today and Dr. George Urban, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic, migraines sufferers report that the weather plays an important factor in determining when a migraine will strike. Many of these patients noted that a decline rather than rise in barometric pressure results in pain.

    Features

    • The changes in the air pressure change the pressure in your body as well as the oxygen levels in your body. Lowered air pressure requires that your blood vessels adapt to this change by contracting. This is when a migraine or regular headache is likely to occur. The change in the vessel size determines how much oxygen and blood goes to your brain, according to Headaches.org.

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