This happened to me today in Brighton, NY. My wrist and elbows were hurting
all day and we had a thunderstorm in the afternoon. A few years ago I broke
my wrist. The pain never quite went away and always seems to get worst when
it's about to rain and on cold winter days. Just recently my orthopedic
doctor told me I have arthritis in my joints.
"ironjustice" <teamtanner@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:17b767f0-dff6-4d8d-86fe-184af2c7d1e2@34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
One might wonder whether arthritis gets worse on long airline
flights / low barometric pressure or when one goes to altitude?
Do blood thinners work due to the hyperviscous / thick blood
resulting from erythrocytosis?
-------------------------
Thomas Jefferson University
Released: Fri 13-Jun-2008, 13:00 ET
People with Joint Pain Can Forecast Thunderstorms and Summer Downpours
Newswise — The summer brings many thunderstorms to the east coast of
the United States, and one of the nation’s leading joint specialists,
Javad Parvizi, M.D., Ph.D., of the Rothman Institute at Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital, says you should believe your
grandmother, friend or co-worker when they tell you it’s going to rain—
even if it’s simply because their aching knees, hips, hands or
shoulders “say so.”
Dr. Parvizi, who is also director of clinical research at the Rothman
Institute at Jefferson, and associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in
Philadelphia, explains that even though individuals can experience
pain fluctuations with the slightest change in barometric pressure,
most patients report significant increases in pain before and during
severe changes in weather, like summer downpours and thunderstorms.
“The phenomenon of people being able to forecast precipitation,
especially rain, due to the level of their joint pain is real,” says
Dr. Parvizi. “It is not in the patient’s head. There is science to
back it up.”
Weather-related joint pain is typically seen in patients with
osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other arthritic conditions.
It can affect any load-bearing joint, but is most common in hips,
knees, elbows, shoulders and hands. The joints contain sensory nerves
called baro-receptors which respond to changes in atmospheric
pressure. These receptors especially react when there is low
barometric pressure, meaning the atmosphere has gone from dry to
moist, like when it is going to rain.
“When pressure in the environment changes, we know that the amount of
fluid in the joint or the pressure inside the joint fluctuates with
it,” says Dr. Parvizi. “Individuals with arthritic joints feel these
changes much more because they have less cartilage to provide
cushioning.”
Dr. Parvizi says that sometimes the pain is due to inflammatory
mediators around the joint, like with rheumatoid arthritis conditions
and can often be helped by keeping the joints warm or icing them
(depending on preference), massage therapy, and applying pain killing
creams and ointments. Other treatments may include non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), site-specific steroid injections, and
long-term use of certain supplements like Omega-3 (which is used to
reduce inflammation) and glucosamine and chondroitin, which have been
shown, in combination, to significantly reduce arthritis pain and
maintain healthy cartilage.
For patients who have suffered a long time and exhibit signs of end
stage arthritis (no cartilage left to cushion the joint), Dr. Parvizi
suggests that joint replacement should be considered.
“Our goal is to get that painful little weatherman out of the
patient’s joints while treating the root cause of their condition.”
The Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in
Philadelphia offers orthopaedic and sports medicine expertise in the
medical care of the spine, hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, foot, ankle,
wrist and hand. Ranked second in the U.S. for orthopaedic funding by
the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery at Jefferson comprises over 50 board certified physicians who
develop, teach and practice groundbreaking therapies and technologies
that shape patient care practices around the country.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with a Rothman
Institute at Jefferson joint specialist, call 1-800-JEFF-NOW or visit
http://www.JeffersonHospital.org/orthopaedics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2008 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.
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