Study finds weather really does affect pain levels

A new study of more than 13,000 people from all 124 of the UK’s postcodes found that on ‘damp and windy days with low pressure, the chance of experiencing more pain compared to an average day was around 20%.’ Most of the participants had arthritis though some had other chronic pain related conditions including fibromyalgia, neuropathy and migraine.

The researchers from Manchester University recorded data with a smartphone app developed specifically for the study that participants used to report daily pain levels. The app also recorded the weather at the same time using the phone’s GPS.