Acute lower back pain? Don’t blame the weatherman…

Sudden, acute episodes of low back pain are not linked to weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction and precipitation, says research published in Arthritis Care & Research.
Many people with musculoskeletal pain report that their symptoms are influenced by the weather but there are few robust studies about the association. Some previous work has shown that cold or humid weather and changes in the weather increase symptoms in people with chronic pain conditions but other research suggests the contrary.
So a team from Sydney, Australia, interviewed 993 people who had sudden, acute episodes of back pain.
Statistics for temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind speed, wind gust, wind direction and precipitation were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for the entire study period.
Weather exposures in the case window (time when participants first noticed their back pain) were compared to exposures in two control time-windows (same time duration, one week and one month before the case window).
The data showed that temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction and precipitation was not associated with onset of back pain.
Higher wind speed and wind gust increased the odds of pain onset, but “while this reached statistical significance, the magnitude of the increase was not clinically important,” the researchers state.
“Our findings refute previously held beliefs that certain common weather conditions increase risk of lower back pain. Further investigation of the influence of weather parameters on symptoms associated with specific diseases such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis are needed.”
To read the original research click here.
Arthritis Digest previously reported on similar studies in people with osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.