Arthritis and Cold Weather

Does cold weather make arthritis worse?

It is official, winter is now upon us. The cold and wet weather can lead to an increase in reported symptoms for patients with inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid (and a host of many others in this category of immune system inflammatory conditions eg. ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis) and osteoarthritis (arthritis that arises from general wear and tear to your joints).  Most arthritis sufferers tend to feel worse in the cold weather than in the warmer weather.

There has not been any conclusive scientific evidence that supports why arthritis sufferers report an increase in arthritic joint pain and stiffness. Having both types of arthritis myself I know that there must be an explanation. Here are a few possible reasons.

1. A fall in barometric pressure, which most often happens when a cold weather front approaches, could cause your joints to swell, which may result in an increase in pain reported.
2. Lower temperatures may also increase the volume and therefore the thickness of synovial fluid within your joints. Synovial fluid acts as your joint’s shock absorber and provides nutrition to the joint surface. An increase in the fluid will make your feel joints stiffer and more sensitive to pain.
3. Winter can even affect us deep into our genetics inside our individual DNA strands. It has been reported in one study that specific genes that promote inflammation are increased in the winter weather, whilst at the same time we have specific genes that suppress inflammation that decrease their activity in the winter. In other words, your specific genetics can work against you if you in the cold winter months and this will be especially evident if you have arthritis.
4. Flu season can be especially bad for people with inflammatory arthritis. We have known for at least 50 years that people with have a higher susceptibility to colds and flu. Some studies report that there is double the chance of getting the flu if you have an inflammatory arthritic condition. Inflammatory arthritis causes your immune system to mistakenly attack your body’s own cells. Having this kind of arthritis can seriously affect how your body responds to foreign invaders such as germs, including viruses and bacteria, within your body. Your body also doesn’t recover from viruses and bacteria as quickly as in people who do not have inflammatory arthritic conditions. It can take two times longer to recover from a virus and there is also a trifold increase in complications. Many people who suffer from inflammatory arthritis are on immune suppressant medications to assist their cells from attacking themselves. This medication thereby decreases the cells inflammatory response and therefore the amount of inflammation and symptoms of pain and stiffness that relate to this. If you do get a bad virus or flu when you are taking immune suppressant medication the patient is often advised by their Doctor to stop taking the immune suppressant medication so that the person can fight the invading virus or bacteria. Stopping immune suppressant medication will again lead to an increase in inflammatory pain and stiffness on top of the typical symptoms such as body aches, fever, fatigue, etc experienced during cold and flu.

Your Physiotherapist can help keep your joints moving and reduce the pain and symptoms of arthritis with many techniques from hands-on physiotherapy, dry needling, appropriate exercises, support & advice. You do not need to suffer in silence.  Book an appointment today.

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