Weather sickness: A guide to barometric influence (evidence-based)
Weather sickness: A guide to barometric influence (evidence-based)
Weather sickness refers to the fact that many people react to changes in the weather. In particular, rapid changes in barometric pressure have been linked to increased complaints. In particular, rheumatism patients, fibromyalgia patients and people with migraines seem to be particularly vulnerable.
There is good documentation in a number of good studies that the weather sickness is a very real physiological phenomenon. Among other things, research has shown that patients with knee osteoarthritis have worsening pain and symptoms when barometric pressure changes, and especially low pressure.¹
"This article is evidence-based, and written by authorized health personnel at Pain clinics Interdisciplinary Health, which means that it contains a higher number of references to relevant research studies."
Weather changes: A well-known moment of anxiety for several patient groups
People with osteoarthritis (osteoarthritis), rheumatism (over 200 diagnoses), chronic pain syndromes (including fibromyalgia) and migraine, are some of the conditions that seem to have the strongest influence from weather changes and barometric changes. Some of the most important influencing factors in weather sickness are:
Barometric pressure changes (for example transition to low pressure)
Temperature changes (especially with rapid changes)
Rainfall amount
Humidity
Little sunshine
Wind strength
It is in particular what we popularly call the transition to 'debris weather' that seems to have the greatest impact on symptoms and pain. A study published in the medical journal Internal Medicine concluded the following about migraines and weather changes:
"Barometric pressure change can be one of the exacerbating factors of migraine headaches."² (Kimoto et al)
This research study measured specific changes in air pressure in response to migraine attacks in a specific patient group. Barometry is defined in the Norwegian Academy's dictionary as air pressure measurement. Air pressure is measured in the unit hectopascal (hPa). The study saw a significant effect on migraine attacks when air pressure dropped:
"The frequency of migraine increased when the difference in barometric pressure from the day the headache occurred to the day after was lower by more than 5 hPa"
Migraine attacks thus occurred more frequently when a lower air pressure occurred, with a change of more than 5 hectopascals (hPa), from one day to the next. A concrete and well-documented example of the physiological impact of weather changes.
Symptoms of weather sickness
With the weather sickness, many people experience worsening pain in the muscles and stiffness in the joints. But other, non-physical symptoms also occur. Common symptoms may include:
Fatigue and fatigue
Swelling in joints
brain Fog
Headache
Joint stiffness
Sound sensitivity
sensitivity to light
Muscle pain
Dizziness
Pressure changes in the ear
malaise
It can be seen that the increase in symptoms and complaints is worse in certain patient groups than others. It is important to remember that there are many factors in weather changes that often play a role in such symptoms. As mentioned earlier, rheumatism and osteoarthritis patients experience increased stiffness, fluid accumulation and pain in their joints. For this patient group, it may be recommended to use compression noise to stimulate increased circulation and fluid drainage. Among other things can compression supports for the knees og compression gloves be particularly useful. All product recommendations open in a new browser window.
Our recommendation: Compression gloves
Compression gloves used by many with various rheumatic diagnoses, but also by people with osteoarthritis or other conditions. Among other things, they can also be useful for people with carpal tunnel syndrome and DeQuervain's tenosynovitis. The main function of compression gloves is to increase circulation to stiff joints and sore muscles in the hands and fingers. You can read more about our recommendation here .
Patient groups that are more affected by weather sickness
As mentioned earlier, there are certain diagnoses and patient groups that are more affected by weather changes and barometric changes than others. This includes people with:
Osteoarthritis (osteoarthritis)
Headache (several different types)
Chronic pain (including fibromyalgia)
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Migraine
Rheumatism (several rheumatic diagnoses are affected)
But other diagnoses are also affected. Among other things, people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma and COPD, may experience worsening symptoms. Somewhat more surprisingly, it is perhaps also to many that patients with epilepsy have more frequent seizures due to barometric pressure changes (particularly faster changes above 5.5 hPa). Among other things, a research study in the medical journal concluded Epilepsy with the following:
"Surprisingly, in patients with known epilepsy, increased seizure frequency occurred with changes in barometric pressure, particularly over the 5.5 mBar range per day."³ (Doherty et al)
Thus, a clear increase in the number of epileptic seizures was seen when the pressure change was over 5.5 hPa from one day to the next (hPa and mBar are measured the same). This is again very interesting, concrete and important research which emphasizes that major physiological changes occur in the body when we are exposed to these weather changes.
Norwegian study: Barometric changes affect pain levels in fibromyalgia patients
A major Norwegian peer-reviewed study published in the renowned journal PLoS one wanted to find out how, among other things, humidity, temperature and barometric pressure affect people with fibromyalgia.4 The study was called 'Blame it on the weather? The association between pain in fibromyalgia, relative humidity, temperature and barometric pressure' and the main researcher behind the study was Asbjørn Fagerlund. It is a strong study with references and a review of 30 relevant studies.
- Higher humidity and low pressure had the strongest impact
The Norwegian researchers quickly found that there was a significant impact. And they wrote the following about these findings:
"The results showed that lower BMP and increased humidity were significantly associated with increased pain intensity and pain unpleasantness, but only BMP was associated with stress levels."
BMP is an abbreviation for the English barometric pressure, i.e. barometric pressure translated into Norwegian. They thus found a clear increase in pain intensity and pain discomfort linked to low pressure and higher humidity. The stress levels in the body were not affected by higher humidity, but it was seen that these were also worsened by low pressure. Which is very interesting, as we know that increased stress levels in the body are, among other things, linked to increased inflammatory reactions and worsening pain. If you find this interesting, you may also be interested in reading the article fibromyalgia and low blood pressure written by our clinic department at Lambertseter in Oslo. The link to that article opens in a new browser window.
Summary: Weather sickness and barometric influence (evidence-based)
There are strong and good studies that show a clear connection between barometric influence on pain and symptoms. So yes, you can safely talk about weather sickness as an evidence-based phenomenon with strong roots in research. Statements such as "feel it in gout", an expression many may have laughed at in the past, gains a little more weight when you can back it up with research studies.
"Have you experienced the weather sickness? If so, we'd love to hear from you in the comments section at the bottom of this article. All input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!"
Research and sources: Værsyken - an evidence-based guide to barometric influence
- McAlindon et al, 2007. Changes in barometric pressure and ambient temperature influence osteoarthritis pain. Am J Med . 2007 May;120(5):429-34.
- Kimoto et al, 2011. Influence of barometric pressure in patients with migraine headache. Intern With . 2011;50(18):1923-8
- Doherty et al, 2007. Atmospheric pressure and seizure frequency in the epilepsy unit: preliminary observations. Epilepsy. 2007 Sep;48(9):1764-1767.
- Fagerlund et al, 2019. Blame it on the weather? The association between pain in fibromyalgia, relative humidity, temperature and barometric pressure. PLoS One. 2019; 14(5): e0216902.
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Article: Weather sickness – a guide to barometric influence (evidence-based)
Written by: Our publicly authorized chiropractors and physiotherapists at Vondtklinikkene
Fact check: Our articles are always based on serious sources, research studies and research journals - such as PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Please contact us if you spot any errors or have comments.
Photos and credit
Cover image (woman under rainy cloud): iStockphoto (licensed use). Stock photo ID: 1167514169 Credit: Prostock-Studio
Picture 2 (umbrella on which it is raining): iStockphoto (licensed use). Stock photo ID: 1257951336 Credit: Julia_Sudnitskaya
