Key Takeaways
- When the weather changes, your health can be put at risk
- Conditions such as joint pain, cold and flu, depression, and more can be caused by the weather
- You can combat these risks to your health by being cautious during seasonal changes
When researching how changes in the weather can affect your health, one of the biggest culprits is barometric pressure, especially when it dips low. That can bring on headaches and joint pain.
An increase in pollen can also activate allergies or bring on a string of upper respiratory infections. To no surprise, your overall mood and mental health can also be impacted.
Here are some additional ways weather affects your health and how to combat them.
Joint Pain
When the weather changes, you may be thinking why do my joints hurt all of a sudden?
As weather systems come and go, the atmospheric pressure is affected. This is one of the main ways how weather affects your body. When there’s a high pressure air system, it’s likely to make your joints feel better because there’s less pressure on them.
Conversely, a low pressure system might bring on low levels of pain because there’s more pressure coming down on your joints.
When there’s added pressure, the fluid in your joints expands, leaving a lower level of cushioning between bones. This maybe explains why your knees and ankles hurt.
Ironically, the best way to alleviate some of this joint pain is to get up and move around. If it’s too cold to get some exercise outside, see if you can walk in place or ride a stationary bike because movement naturally lubricates joints.
Stiffness and Flare Ups
Changing air temperatures can also affect your joints and it’s all to do with fluid again. When the air temperature is cold, it thickens up the fluid in your joints. That can create a feeling of stiffness and remind people of the health effects of climate change.
Can you imagine the pain of a low pressure system in cooler weather?
While this may have little or no impact on someone in good health, someone with arthritis or pre-existing joint injuries might feel the pain more acutely.
If you’ve ever heard a doctor recommend that someone suffering from arthritis move to a warmer climate, that’s a clear indicator of climate change impacts on health.
Sinus Headache
Atmospheric pressure may also dictate how weather affects your health and body. Like your joints, when the air pressure is low, it may negatively impact your sinus cavities due to the added pressure. This could result in a sinus headache, pain, and even earaches.
Meanwhile, when the atmospheric pressure rises again, that pressure alleviates and can take some of the existing pain away with it.
Sometimes, applying a hot or cold compress can release some of the pressure. It may also be helpful to reduce any harsh lighting in the room and try to get some sleep, if your body is able.
Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke
If you’ve ever wondered what the heat index is all about, it indicates how much hotter it is, based on the amount of moisture in the air.
The fastest way for your body to cool down is by the release of sweat. On a mild day, that sweat is lifted off the body through evaporation.
However, when the heat index is high, it’s a lot harder for that sweat to lift off the body. As a result, people can’t regulate their systems properly and cool down at a reasonable rate.
After spending several hours outdoors on hot and humid day with a high index disrupts the body’s ability to cool down more than a hot day with low humidity. You can see why so many people are concerned about continued climate change and health.
This has a little bit to do with residents in dry, arid climates like Arizona or Nevada who often talk about a dry heat. The effects are much different than a Floridian or South American heat with high humidity.
Hypothermia and Frostbite
On the other end of the spectrum, the wind chill can negatively impact the body, mainly because of its effect on the skin. The wind chill factors in the ferocity of the winds which dictates how fast people’s skin can cool off.
Although your internal temperature should always be nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, heavy winds across the skin can cool the body down too much. The skin is, afterall, a porous organ that lets in air and other particles.
When your body cools to temperatures that are too low, you run the risk of hypothermia and even frostbite, making weather change sickness the least of everyone’s worries.
Colds and Flu
Here’s an old wive’s tale that probably needs to be laid to rest. You won’t catch a cold simply because the air is cold. It’s perfectly possible to stay healthy in changing weather conditions.
The cold and the flu are viruses, which means they can only be contracted from someone else who is carrying the virus.
The reason they’re more prevalent in winter months is because the viruses are able to live longer in colder, drier weather. They’re not quite as successful in hot and humid climates.
The other reason people are more likely to pick up a common cold or the flu is because, when the air temperatures are lower or the wind chills are higher, people tend to stay indoors. Being in close proximity to someone carrying either of these viruses makes everyone more susceptible.
Upper Respiratory Infections
Upper respiratory infections are quite cruel because they can come on in the winter for all the same reasons as colds and flus. To combat these infections in colder months, you can try running an air humidifier inside to bring more moisture into the air.
They can also come on in the summer when the amount of pollen in the air increases and gets in people’s lungs. This is one of the times when weather changes can make you sick.
To combat upper respiratory infections in hotter months, ensure your air filters are clean because, if they’re doing their job, they’re probably loaded with pollen and other allergens.
Asthma and Allergy Attacks
People who suffer from asthma tend to struggle more in cold weather because the change in air pressure compresses their lungs and makes breathing more restrictive. This, again, could be a good opportunity to deploy a humidifier within the home.
Of course, allergies tend to kick up in climates where there’s an increase of pollen in the air, as well as warmer, stickier levels of humidity. All these allergens enter the system through your airways, as well as your skin.
During these weather changes, it can be helpful to gargle with warm salt water to break up the mucus that’s forming. Drinking plenty of fluids may also help to break down and wash out the buildup.
Depression
You may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Sunlight has a major impact on people’s mental health and this is a major factor in how climate change can affect your health. There’s the literal drop in vitamin D. But, it also affects your psyche in unseen ways.
People in areas of the world that live through long, dark winters often employ sunlight machines. Taking vitamin D during this time may also help to level out the system, thus reducing the health impacts of extreme weather.
Changes In the Weather Can Affect Your Health
Indeed, changes in the weather can affect your health in many ways – some seen and some unseen. Don’t feel too alarmed if you experience muscle and joint pain in the colder, cooler months.
Likewise, don’t over-worry about your immune system or overall health if you develop a sinus or respiratory infection when the pollen starts to kick up. It simply means it’s time to make some adjustments to everyday living and remember that, like the weather, this, too, shall pass.
