Weather and pain

Weather and pain? For those of you that remember, there used to be a show called the Beverly Hillbillies, and in one episode Granny insisted that she was smarter than the weather bureau because she could tell it was going to rain by observing a beetle and she was always right. It is something we all laughed at, a bug being more accurate than the weather news anchor. However, we have all had that one person in life that said they could tell it was going to rain because their knee hurt, their ankle was aching; their back started aching more etc. People that have these chronic (long standing pains or old injuries) problems can more often than not be very accurate in telling it is going to rain. It may sound as funny as the bug that granny looked at but it is far from fiction. These people often do not say anything because they do not want others to look at them like they are crazy. So what is the link? Certain injuries in the body, mostly those that have a neural or bone component (such as a knee or spine) can undergo something called neuroplasticity ( big word that means nerve growth) on the nerve fibers that send pain information to the brain. In a sense you will develop more nerves that send signals out that an area is in pain and these nerve fibers can become supersensitive, to the point where they can detect changes in barometric pressure. Grandma with Lumbago was very accurate in knowing the nice day was going to change. The key thing is, you do not want extra nerve fibers that send pain signals. If you are in pain, do things to limit your pain. See the chiropractor. And if your not able to see one, use heat or Ice: if the injury is less than 24 hours old ( no more than 15 min at a time). Also over the counter analgesics, but be careful as these have side effects with long term use or if not used as indicated on the bottle.