Weather related pain

[foofer]

Weather.com

If you go to this site, click on maps, click on "aches & pains", there is a pain map there, and apparently, no one outside of Wisconsin and Michigan should be presently suffering.

Connecticut? Even though it's cold and rainy, I'm out of the zone, or should be.

[titaniumed]

Amy,

Your right. The have maps for aches and pains, allergies, and a cold and flu. Some of the maps are vague, but then again that’s how forecasting goes.
They really need to add a scoliosis pain map!

I could get a job with the Weather Channel.....

"50% chance of pain today, mixed with partly scattered darkness". LOL

Actually, I'm quite happy that summer is almost here, and should have started this thread last November. I will be doing well till next winter, and then it will be my 3rd winter after my surgeries. Moving south has crossed my mind.

Ed

[loves to skate]

Ed, I just blew my theory about feeling good on high pressure days. It's a beautiful day here in New England today and I am in a lot of pain. Wish I could figure it out. Maybe that low pressure area is on it's way. Sally

[titaniumed]

Sally

Sorry about your pain. You know that there are many reasons for pain. I'm just trying to address this weather related thing.

I have "bear traps" which are the "tightening" of the paraspinal muscles only in my thoracic area. Why in this area, I don’t know. I'm sure all the muscles were cut in my back going all the way down. This is a post surgical pain, I didn’t have this before my surgeries, and you know that pain is totally different after surgery. We trade different types of pain. My bear traps feel like somebody is stepping in that area with a boot. Levels of tightness vary, according to weather and atmospheric pressure.

We really need to get a thread going addressing pain. Defining different types of pain and their levels. Everyone has similar and very different types of pain, and judging their pain levels is so difficult from person to person.

A 4 year old child with a little cut on their finger will testify that it was a 10 level pain event. I broke my shoulder and didn’t even bother doing anything about it. Shattered my humeral head, almost ripped off my supra spinatus, etc. These are two very different extremes.

One thing is for sure, pain relates to nerves, and CNS.

Once again, for those who read this that are wondering, my pre-surgical pain was so high, I'm surprised I didn’t have a heart attack. Dr Menmuir saved my life, and if I do have pain related to weather or low pressure or whatever it is, I would not reverse the process. I will probably be completely pain free till next November, unless I screw up and have some sort of a crash. I will not let scoliosis dictate any of my activities, never have, never will. (Within reason) Use good judgment in your activites.
Ed

[NicoAnn]

[QUOTE=titaniumed;98709]Welcome NicoAnn,
Its good that your move has helped you.

Wow, you have had quite a trial. Didn’t they get any correction from the hardware? Or did they, and your spine returned?
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Yeah, it was quite an ordeal. But, I kept a good attitude through all of it and had great support from parents, friends, and doctors, so it really wasn't as bad as it could have been. They initially got about 10 degrees correction from surgery, which is much less than anticipated, but within a couple months it settled back to where it was pre-surgery.

[NicoAnn]

Sally
I have "bear traps" which are the "tightening" of the paraspinal muscles only in my thoracic area. Why in this area, I don’t know. I'm sure all the muscles were cut in my back going all the way down. This is a post surgical pain, I didn’t have this before my surgeries, and you know that pain is totally different after surgery. We trade different types of pain. My bear traps feel like somebody is stepping in that area with a boot. Levels of tightness vary, according to weather and atmospheric pressure.

I will not let scoliosis dictate any of my activities, never have, never will. (Within reason) Use good judgment in your activites.
Ed

I'm never heard that type of pain described as "bear trap" or even talked to doctor about it to find out what it actually is, but I get the same type of pain from time to time... only in thoracic area, also. It feels like everything is tightened up and gets so bad I can't breathe sometimes. This happens a couple times a month to me, mainly due to weather or too much activity.

I agree with your statement about not letting scoliosis stop you from doing anything. People often ask me if I'm able to do something due to scoliosis and I've never said I couldn't. Example, I'm going ATV riding next weekend. I figure it might make me sore the next day, but I have some meds to help and it'll will likely be worth the experience. I'm no stranger to a little pain and won't let it control me. I refuse to let this thing stop me from doing anything I want.

[titaniumed]

Ann

"Bear traps' are a term that I coined. Especially in my recovery when it felt like a bear trap gripping my spine. My first few weeks right after my surgeries were dreadful.

You be careful on that 4 wheeler. Keep the speed down. I do ride motorcycles, but now I'm extremely cautious. Basically, I just put around in low gear.

Looks like the lows today are in New Mexico and Arkansas and Ontario, Canada. Do we have members from these areas?
Ed

[jrnyc]

i am so sorry to hear of people in pain...i, too, have weather related pain...cold and damp is the worst!

i say again...botox injections freeze muscles, work particularly well on thoracic area, rarely work for me in lumbar...and are great when they stop those spasms that cause so much pain!

jess

[Vali]

I can definitely tell when its going to rain. I feel as if I have a corset on and that someone is pulling the laces really tight. I have that real ' i can't be bothered doing anything today' type attitude. I just want to lie down and do nothing (really, really unusual for me). I live in Adelaide (Australia) and we can get upto 43 degrees Celcius for sometimes 10 days in a row, our highest has been 46 degrees, however, it is a dry heat and very bearable. I can't do humidity, it just doesn't agree with me.

[foofer]

Amy,

Your right. The have maps for aches and pains, allergies, and a cold and flu. Some of the maps are vague, but then again that’s how forecasting goes.
They really need to add a scoliosis pain map!

I could get a job with the Weather Channel.....

"50% chance of pain today, mixed with partly scattered darkness". LOL

Actually, I'm quite happy that summer is almost here, and should have started this thread last November. I will be doing well till next winter, and then it will be my 3rd winter after my surgeries. Moving south has crossed my mind.

Ed

Okay Mr Weatherman, you made me laugh with the scattered darkness thing. Where have I heard that (or have I?)....Some long ago memory of SNL or Mad Magazine- Tonight's weather- increasing darkness, moving into light by morning.....?

Help me out here...

Meantime- it is drizzling and achey here for sure, back in Colorado. Could you please send us some better weather? I often talk to my sister in the morning who lives in Reno and by late afternoon, we have her morning weather.

I'm starting a pain thread...

[titaniumed]

I think it might have been Chevy Chase on SNL in the early days....
Letterman also did weather, before he was famous.

I'm sorry I cant help you out Amy, but I can give you a heads up. Look at the map and you will see 2 lows, just north and south of me.

And I feel them. My upper back is tight.
Ed

[titaniumed]

Hi Guys, it’s the weatherman here reporting low pressure changes on the horizon again. I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but this is reality. I feel terrible, I’m totally exhausted. Its 10AM and I’m going back to bed.

Several times now we have had great sunny weather, and then I feel the bear trap gripping and exhaustion, then look at the Pacific satellite, and there it is, a low pressure winter weather system moving in.

My baroreceptors are in gear again.....

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0530174619.htm

I am 6 years post and this is not letting up at all. Its been a tough winter for me. I am really considering a move because of this.

Does anyone down south feel this? Before I move down to Florida, can someone let me know? (smiley face) Any post op Florida scolis feeling this?

Ed

[JenniferG]

Ed, I live a long way South <grin> In a sub-tropical zone of Australia, and I never have this problem. Move to the warmth, you'll never regret it.

[jrnyc]

hey Ed....are you OK in very humid warm weather...?
the wetness of humidity does not cause you pain?

because i suggest southern CA...
they have such a bad drought there...i know it makes everything and everyone suffer...except those of us with arthritis...not nice to admit, but i used to wish so hard for a drought in northeast in summer...i felt best that way...but i deeply dislike the desert...my aunt who loved the desert, bless her soul, dragged me to Palm Springs once...i had no spit in my mouth it was so dry outside,and no one was on the street...all inside in air conditioning, except one or two leather skinned people
sunning by the pool at hotel...
i could not get back to ocean fast enough....

i do feel good in Caribbean, despite humidity so high that my wet towels...and curly wet hair...never fully dry....but i do not know if that is from the weather, the sunshine, the people, the music, the rum, or....who knows what...
only hot and humid i truly enjoy is in Bahamas and Jamaica...and St Thomas, and....you get the idea...

i just thought you might consider southern CA instead of FLA...
i understand when the barometer drops, when moisture in a storm is coming,
pain comes with it...and CA does not get rain very often...i think i am recruiting now...i really like southern CA so much...

hope you feel better soon...
jess...and Sparky

[rohrer01]

Hi, Ed.
I have a friend in CA. In the last week they've had two small earthquakes. That usually happens before a "BIG one". That's the primary reason that I won't live in CA.

I lived in AZ for a couple of decades. It's a great place. You have your choice of "climate" and the weather is almost always sunny. You don't have to live where it's blistering hot, either. AND they have a wicked ski resort near Flagstaff! They do have monsoon season, but rarely get rain from it anymore. The barometric pressure does change none-the-less. You can see and feel and SMELL the storm coming, then nothing. In the low desert it evaporates before it hits the ground. Although, they did get some pretty heavy rain recently not related to the monsoons. My friend forgot where the windshield wipers were on her car! The monsoons come in the late summer. You might feel your bear trap during that season, I don't know. It would probably depend on where you chose to live. There are so many beautiful places there, it's hard to recommend one. I do recommend staying out of the low desert. It gets too darn hot. I had a 131^o reading on my out door thermometer that was in the SHADE one year. No human should live in a place like that as far as I'm concerned. The lizards, snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas can keep it all to themselves. LOL

Florida has a lot of weather disturbances because it's on the peninsula. I can't imagine finding pain relief there. Have you ever thought about being a snowbird? Maybe your line of work won't allow that...