If you feel the weather in your bones, this might be why

Some people don’t need a weather app — they feel the forecast in their bones. A storm rolls in and so do throbbing heads, aching joints and mood drops. For years, this phenomenon was dismissed as imagination or coincidence. Now, more researchers are taking weather-related symptoms seriously. 

The emerging field of meteoropathy points to evidence that shifts in weather prompt headaches and other ailments, according to a recent article in The Washington Post. Meteoropathy is the study of physiological reactions to environmental changes, especially barometric shifts that disrupt circulation and rattle the nervous system. Meteoropathic illness is not yet a formal diagnosis, but more scientists are finding evidence for it.

“These effects aren’t random. They’re cumulative,” said Vincent Martin, MD, professor of clinical internal medicine at the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine and director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at UC's Gardner Neuroscience Institute.

His team found lightning within 25 miles of a home increases migraine risk by 31 percent. Both rising and falling air density can provoke migraines and tension headaches. 

So, what’s happening inside the body? As storms approach, air weight declines and humidity rises. Pain receptors, or nerve endings in joints, muscles and tissues that detect stress, pressure or temperature shifts, send signals through the spine to the brain, where pain and emotion register.

The receptors may fire in response to shifts in intracranial pressure sensed by the brain, sinuses and carotid arteries. 

Falling pressure activates the autonomic nervous system and heightens pain sensitivity in people with chronic conditions, according to studies. The nervous system’s fight-or-flight response has been linked to increased anxiety and disrupted sleep.

In addition, sudden swings in atmospheric pressure, humidity and temperature can lower blood oxygen saturation — the amount of oxygen your red blood cells carry — while also triggering hormonal fluctuations and cardiovascular strain, according to researchers.

Read about help for managing symptoms.

Featured image at top: People walking while huddled under umbrellas on a rainy and stormy day. iStock/CristiNistor.