Air Circulation Causes Swelling And Arthritis Pain?
Mу mother-іn-law lives wіth υѕ аnd claims thаt air circulating іn thе room bу a fan, οr сοοlеr temperatures wіth thе air conditioning cause hеr stiffness аnd pain іn hеr neck, arms, legs, wrists, аnd hands, аnd аlѕο swelling. Shе hаѕ Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, аnd Osteoarthritis. I’m trying tο collect аѕ many facts аѕ I саn, аѕ mу research ѕο far hаѕ nοt indicated sensitivity tο air circulation аѕ being a symptom οr side affect οf аnу οf thеѕе diseases, аnd I’ve never heard such іn mу life. Cаn someone shed a lіttlе more light οn thіѕ subject fοr mе?
Shе claims thаt thе pain саn bе caused bу јυѕt having a fan іn thе room, even іf іt’s nοt blowing directly οn hеr. Thаt’s whу I рυt thе circulation раrt іn thеrе. If ѕhе hаѕ thе fan blowing directly οn hеr, thаt’s a change іn temperature, bυt іf іt’s nοt blowing directly οn hеr, ѕhе still complains thаt іt causes hеr problems.
I don’t have any research proven data on this, but as someone who has arthritis, I too, have pain and stiffness when AC or a fan blows on my joints. Even in the 95 degree Florida heat, the AC in my car hurts my joints on bad days, and I have to cover my shoulder (or whatever body part). So, yes, I believe her.
PS. I just found this blurb on a hospital website:
What is arthritis?
As many as 70 million people in the United States have some form of arthritis or joint inflammation. We do have a lot of people who suffer from arthritis in the UAE since humidity and air-conditioning increase joint pain. It is a major cause of lost work time and serious disability for many people. Although arthritis is mainly a disease of adults, children may also have it.
http://www.emirateshospital.ae/english/orthopedics.htm
This from another website:
What Weather Factors Affect Fibromyalgia Sufferers?
There are five major weather factors that appear to affect fibromyalgia symptoms. These include:
Temperature: Rapid changes in temperature can sometimes trigger a fibromyalgia flare or help to ease fibromyalgia pain. Cold weather tends to make fibromyalgia symptoms worse, while warmer weather tends to ease those troublesome symptoms.
Barometric Pressure: Barometric pressure is a measurement of the weight that is exerted by the air all around us. On beautiful sunny days, barometric pressure tends to be quite high, but during a storm or similar weather front, barometric pressure drops suddenly. Fibromyalgia sufferers often find that these changes in barometric pressure can trigger muscle aches and pains.
Humidity: Absolute humidity is a measurement of the amount of water vapor present in each unit of air. When absolute humidity is low, fibromyalgia sufferers often report headaches, stiffness, and flares in widespread pain.
Precipitation: Precipitation is the term used to refer to any type of water that falls to the ground from the sky, including rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Precipitation is often accompanied by a change in barometric pressure, and therefore may exacerbate your symptoms of pain and fatigue.
Wind: Whether it’s a light wind or a gale-force wind, wind generally causes a decrease in barometric pressure. This means that wind can trigger fatigue, headaches, and muscle aches in fibromyalgia sufferers.
http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/fibromyalgia_weather.html
I also found this:
Other symptoms, which are insidious in onset, may include sleep disturbances resulting in restlessness, tooth grinding, or sleep walking; fatigue; headaches; dizziness; depression; and hypersensitivity to temperature (especially the cold and air conditioning)…
http://mediwire.skyscape.com/main/Default.aspx?P=Content&ArticleID=46404
Actually there is a symptom called allodynia that is common in fibromyalgia patients.
http://www.painonline.org/allo.htm
Your MIL is dealing with a ton of problems in her life. Its not in her control that her nervous system no longer works in the way that is familiar to you. Trust me when I tell you that fibromyalgia is horribly painful and completely out of her control. She may be able to do a few things to improve her health but there is one thing she can not control..and that’s the weather !
I have given birth to two children completely without any anesthesia. I have passed kidney stones that didn’t hurt as badly as a full blown fibromyalgia flare. I know its incomprehensible to you when she tells you that air blowing on her causes her pain but it does. Please don’t be at war with her, she feels like nothing is in her control any longer …and she is right !
Some things you can do for her is keep light weight throws around , microwave heating pads (they are easy to make), down throws for winter, hooded sweaters. all these things would make it easier on her to deal with . My final suggestion is she needs to be seeing a team of doctors ( endocrinologist, rheumatologist , maybe a pain specialist) who can deal with all her symptoms to maybe calm down her body and get it back to a more”normal” state.
Bless you for looking for answers.
Yes, I too suffer with pain from either being in a building with AC for a long period of time and then going outside into 80/0r 90 degree weather and have terrible joint pain. Or vise/versa leaving 80/90 degree weather and going inside to a cold environment it appears that your body or whatever area it is, goes into shock and all I would do is curl up into a fetal position put a warm blanket or jacket over me and wait until that part of my body would calm down. I explained this to my doctor and he recommended that I cut down on soda and increase my water intake. I believe your mother, it is very painful, All you want to be is left alone until the pain settles down.
I have Fibromyalgia and I personally have to sleep with the air or fan on me at night. If it is a hot day I will use our air conditioning. I have not noticed any problems of the air for me, but every person is different. I wish you luck on this issue.
Have fibro and air circulation does cause pain in joints, even wind. It is in some of the descriptions of fibro. Fibro has so many different symptoms and not everyone gets all of them, rather most get just a few. Therefore, some of the descriptions even on the medical sites do not outline the vast number of symptoms that can be suffered by persons with fibro.