THE weather isn't to blame for aches and pains, according to the results of a new study.
Research from Sydney's The George Institute for Global Health says the weather plays no part in back pain and osteoarthritis symptoms.
Study leader Chris Maher said the belief that pain and weather are linked dates back to Roman times.
"But our research suggests this belief may be based on the fact that people recall events that confirm their pre-existing views," Professor Maher said.
"Human beings are very susceptible, so it's easy to see why we might only take note of pain on the days when it's cold and rainy outside, but discount the days when they have symptoms but the weather is mild and sunny."
The findings support the results of a previous study conducted by the institute.
"People were adamant that adverse weather conditions worsened their symptoms so we decided to go ahead with a new study based on data from new patients," Professor Maher said.
"The results though were almost exactly the same - there is absolutely no link between pain and the weather in these conditions."
The study recruited almost 1000 people with lower back pain and about 350 with knee osteoarthritis.
Results showed no association between back pain and temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction or rain. Higher temperatures did slightly increase the chances of lower back pain, but the amount of the increase was deemed not clinically important.
