Does cold weather really cause joint pain? Or it’s all just in head…

According to studies and anecdotal research,

There are numerous conflicting answers to this particular question…

There may be a correlation between weather and joint pain, and that one of the causes of increased pain may not be the weather itself, but the barometric pressure changes associated with changing weather that may be the culprit. Arthritic or injured joints which are already prone to inflammation may be affected by a decrease in barometric pressure that allows more swelling to occur.

There’s also the suggestion that cold weather thickens the fluid within the joints, making movement more painful. An article on weather.com (“Does Cold Weather Cause Joint Pain?”) references a study done at Tufts University that seems to support both the barometric pressure and the fluid thickening theories.