No, your pain doesn’t get worse in the cold. So why do we think it does?

It’s cold and wet outside. When you get out of bed, you feel it in your bones. Your right knee hurts again. This makes it harder for you to walk the dog or go to the gym. You think it must be the weather.

This is a widespread belief, but it is a myth.

When we looked at the evidence, we found no direct link between the most common pains and the weather. In the first study of its kind, we found no direct link between temperature or humidity and most joint or muscle pain.

Why are so many of us convinced the weather is to blame? Here’s what we think is really going on.

The weather can be related to your health

Weather is often associated with the risk of new and ongoing health problems. For example, cold temperatures can worsen asthma symptoms. High temperatures increase the risk of heart problems such as arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), cardiac arrest, and coronary heart disease.

Many people also believe that the weather is related to their pain. For example, two out of three people with knee, hip or hand osteoarthritis say that cold temperatures trigger their symptoms.

More than seven million Australians are affected by musculoskeletal disorders. We wanted to find out if the weather is really the cause of the winter cold spells.

Our work

Very few studies have been specifically and appropriately designed to look for a direct link between weather changes and joint or muscle pain. And our study is the first to evaluate data from these specific studies.

We examined data from more than 15,000 people from all over the world. In total, these people reported more than 28,000 episodes of pain, mainly back pain, knee or hip osteoarthritis. People with rheumatoid arthritis and gout were also included.

We then compared the frequency of these pain reports in different types of weather: hot or cold, humid or dry, rainy, windy, and some combinations (e.g., hot and humid versus cold and dry).

Our findings

We found that changes in air temperature, humidity, pressure and precipitation do not increase the risk of knee, hip or lower back pain, nor are they associated with people seeking medical attention for a new attack of arthritis.

The results of this study suggest that changes in the weather do not cause sudden joint or muscle pain, nor does a cold day increase the risk of knee or back pain.

In other words, there is no direct There is no connection between the weather and back, knee or hip pain, nor does it cause arthritis.

However, it should be noted that very cold air temperatures (below 10 °C) have rarely been studied. For this reason, we cannot draw any conclusions about a worsening of symptoms with more extreme weather changes.

The only exception to our findings was gout, an inflammatory form of arthritis that can occur in flare-ups, where pain was worse in warmer, drier conditions.

Gout has a very different biological mechanism than back pain or knee and hip osteoarthritis, which could explain our results. The combination of warm and dry weather can lead to increased dehydration in gout patients and, as a result, to increased uric acid concentration in the blood and the deposition of uric acid crystals in the joint, leading to a flare-up of the disease.

Why do people blame the weather?

The weather can influence other factors and behaviors that in turn determine how we perceive and deal with pain.

For example, some people change their physical activity in winter and prefer to sit on the couch rather than go to the gym. And we know that sitting for long periods of time is directly linked to more severe back pain, for example. Others change their sleeping habits or sleep worse when it is too cold or too warm. Again, a poor night’s sleep can trigger back and knee pain.

Likewise, mood swings, which are common in cold weather, can lead to increased back and knee pain.

Therefore, these behavioral changes may contribute to more aches and pains in winter, rather than the weather itself.

Believing that our pain will be worse in the winter (even if it isn’t) can make us feel worse in the winter. This is known as the nocebo effect.

What can you do about winter aches and pains?

It is best to focus on the pain risk factors that you can control and influence, rather than those that you cannot (such as the weather).

You can:

• become more physically active. Try walking more this winter and throughout the year, or talk to your doctor about gentle exercises that you can do safely at home, with a physical therapist, personal trainer, or at the pool.

• Lose weight if you are obese or overweight as it is associated with less joint pain and better physical function

• Keep your body warm in winter if you feel muscle tension in the uncomfortable cold. Also make sure your bedroom is nice and warm, as we tend to sleep worse in cold rooms

• Maintaining a healthy diet and avoiding smoking or consuming large amounts of alcohol are some of the most important lifestyle recommendations for managing many types of arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders. For example, for people with back pain, a healthy lifestyle is associated with increased physical performance.