Weather conditions are not linked to sudden incidents of low back pain, a new research shows.
Australian researchers found no clinical evidence that showed low back pain increased with higher wind speed or wind gusts.
Low back pain affects at least 33 percent of the world population. The World Health Organization states that almost everyone experiences lower back pain at some point in their life, making it the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition.
People suffering from musculoskeletal (bone, muscle, ligament, tendon, and nerve) pain often say that their symptoms are influenced by the weather. Moreover, past studies have shown that cold or humid weather increases symptoms in patients with chronic pain conditions.
"Many patients believe that weather impacts their pain symptoms," Dr. Daniel Steffens with the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, said in a press 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 case-crossover study, researchers recruited 993 patients from primary care clinics in Sydney between October 2011 and November 2012. They also analysed the weather data collected from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The team then compared the weather at the time patients first noticed back pain (case window) with weather conditions one week and one month before the onset of pain (control windows).
According to the study findings, no association between back pain and temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction or precipitation was found. However, higher wind speed and wind gusts increased the chances of lower back pain by a bit. Researchers said that the amount of increase was not clinically important.
"Our findings refute previously held beliefs that certain common weather conditions increase risk of lower back pain," concludes 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."
The study was published in Arthritis Care & Research.
