Thank you once again for the positive comments regarding the column and your suggestions for future topics. Also do keep the email queries coming, as I try to respond as quickly as possible.

The recent weather changes have provoked much discussion, as it typically changes so frequently and drastically.

Many patients are relieved that the consistent hot weather has now abated and that cooler weather has arrived.

However, for certain patients, the loss of the dry heat has not been appreciated.

The relationship between weather and joint pain has often been the subject of debate.

Is there a connection between cold, damp weather and arthritic pain or is it one of many old wives tales?

In my experience, I have heard too many accurate weather predictions from patients who suffer from arthritis and have heard reports of aches and pains increasing coinciding with changes in the weather, not to believe that there is some connection.

In fact, as long as 2,000 years ago Hippocrates suggested that human ailments were related to the weather.

Many patients who suffer from osteoarthritis report an increase in symptoms of pain and stiffness that coincide with the weather becoming cold and damp, not rare when you live in Ilkley!

Before I was lucky enough to practice here, I worked for several years in and around Bournemouth, where I treated many patients who reported great symptomatic benefits in their move "down South".

It was commonly cited one of the major reasons for their move to the south to escape the damper northern climate.

Whilst many patients are certain of a correlation between the warmer temperatures and an improvement in their symptoms, the exact relationship is not clearly defined. Scientists have conducted research but the results they have obtained are often conflicting.

The most common medical conditions reported to be weather-sensitive are arthritis, low back pain and chronic muscle pain. Interestingly, one of the diagnostic features for fibromyalgia includes weather-related pain.

Frustratingly, the conclusions drawn from studies only makes matters more confused. Some studies have indeed shown correlations between increasing joint pain with weather changes, however, some studies have detected no change or even an improvement in some patients.

One group of scientists found that high barometric pressure causes joint pain but another study published in the same year found high pressure reduced pain in their subjects.

Even more confusing was one study which found some patients feeling worse and some feeling better in the same conditions. This leads us to ask the question: If joint pain and weather aren't connected, why do so many people believe it is?

An orthopedic surgeon working in Ohio on the shore of Lake Erie has noted different responses between rheumatoid arthritis sufferers and osteoarthritis patients.

The trend seemed to be that decreases in barometric pressure gave increased pain in the degenerative group and increases in barometric pressure aggravated the patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

One possible explanation is that the synovial lining membrane that lines the joint capsule, produces more synovium under low barometric pressure causing the joint to swell and in turn stretching the inflamed joint lining and capsule, which in turn increases pain.

I can see how the above suggestion may explain some joint pain response to weather changes, but it does not apply to another group of patients.

People who have old healed fractures often report the similar changes in weather causing an ache at the site of the break.

It could be in the ankle, wrist or a little finger. This could be related to the extremely sensitive periosteal membrane that covers all bones. This membrane would be damaged by the fracturing of a bone and may therefore become weather sensitive in a similar way to a joint.

Typically over the bank holiday weekend, we have been exposed to some fabulous hot weather followed rapidly by cold winds and showers. It's enough to make your joints ache just thinking about having had the last bank holiday of the year!

If you would like to contact me, please call Ilkley Chiropractic Clinic on 605060 or email me at ilkleychiro@tiscali.com