Health & Medicine
Low Back Pain isn't Influenced by the Weather
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Jul 10, 2014 05:26 PM EDT
Though previous studies have suggested that lower back pain is related to humidity and higher temperatures, a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia shows that different weather is unlikely to exasperate related symptoms.
"Many patients believe that weather impacts their pain symptoms," said Dr. Daniel Steffens with the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, in a news release. "However, there are few robust studies investigating weather and pain, specifically research that does not rely on patient recall of the weather."
For the study, researchers recruited 993 patients between October 2011 and November 2012, with data from the Australian Bureau of Meterology. Then, they compared the weather data to patients' visit to the hospital for backache treatment. The ‘case window' in the study consisted of when the patients noticed the back pain while the ‘control window' was one month or a week before the pain.
Findings showed no link between lower back pain and weather conditions, including humidity. However, researchers did find a slight and insignificant increased chance of pain with increased winds.
"Our findings refute previously held beliefs that certain common weather conditions increase risk of lower back pain," concluded Dr. Steffens. "Further investigation of the influence of weather parameters on symptoms associated with specific diseases such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis are needed."
More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
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First Posted: Jul 10, 2014 05:26 PM EDT
Though previous studies have suggested that lower back pain is related to humidity and higher temperatures, a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia shows that different weather is unlikely to exasperate related symptoms.
"Many patients believe that weather impacts their pain symptoms," said Dr. Daniel Steffens with the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, in a news release. "However, there are few robust studies investigating weather and pain, specifically research that does not rely on patient recall of the weather."
For the study, researchers recruited 993 patients between October 2011 and November 2012, with data from the Australian Bureau of Meterology. Then, they compared the weather data to patients' visit to the hospital for backache treatment. The ‘case window' in the study consisted of when the patients noticed the back pain while the ‘control window' was one month or a week before the pain.
Findings showed no link between lower back pain and weather conditions, including humidity. However, researchers did find a slight and insignificant increased chance of pain with increased winds.
"Our findings refute previously held beliefs that certain common weather conditions increase risk of lower back pain," concluded Dr. Steffens. "Further investigation of the influence of weather parameters on symptoms associated with specific diseases such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis are needed."
More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone