Effect of weather on temporal pain patterns in patients with temporomandibular disorders and migraine

Abstract

Patients with masticatory muscle pain and migraine typically report that the intensity of pain fluctuates over time and is affected by weather changes. Weather variables, such as ambient temperature and humidity, may vary significantly depending on whether the individual is outdoor or indoor. It is, therefore, important to assess these variables at the individual level using portable monitors, during everyday life. This study aimed to determine and compare the temporal patterns of pain in individuals affected with facial and head pain and to investigate its relation with weather changes. Eleven patients (27·3 ± 7·4 years) with chronic masticatory muscle pain (MP) and twenty (33·1 ± 8·7 years) with migraine headache (MH) were asked to report their current pain level on a visual analogue scale (VAS) every hour over fourteen consecutive days. The VAS scores were collected using portable data-loggers, which were also used to record temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity. VAS scores varied markedly over time in both groups. Pain VAS scores fluctuate less in the MP group than in the MH group, but their mean, minimum and maximum values were higher than those of migraine patients (all P < 0·05). Pain scores <2 cm were more common in the MH than in the MP group (P < 0·001). Perceived intensity of pain was negatively associated with atmospheric pressure in the MP group and positively associated with temperature and atmospheric in the MH group. Our results reveal that patients with masticatory muscle pain and patients with migraine present typical temporal pain patterns that are influenced in a different way by weather changes.

Prevalence of temporomandibular disorder pain, jaw noises and oral behaviours in an adult Italian population sample

“…Is the pain intensity mild, moderate or severe?”). Furthermore, as suggested by the same authors, the low prevalence of TMD‐pain reported could be explained by the limited duration of their investigation, lasting 1 month, with possible influences related to season, the climate, warm or cold, and moisture . In contrast, in our study, sample recruitment and analysis lasted 1 year, probably reducing this kind of possible bias.…”

Does the IASP definition of pain need updating?

“…For instance, there is now accumulating empirical evidence that weather conditions directly influence many types of pain. 1,13,40 Suppose the causal influence of weather conditions can be systematically demonstrated to be a factor for how one experiences pain quite generally. Should we complain that the IASP definition neglects the meteorological component of pain experiences?…”

Music Modulates Awake Bruxism in Chronic Painful Temporomandibular Disorders

“…This contradicting finding may be explained by the fluctuating pain pattern in mTMD. 84,85 As we did not use pain intensity as an inclusion criterion, it is possible that those with low levels of pain were included in the study, and thus, PPTs were not significantly reduced. Therefore, previous reports of PPT differences between pain-free individuals vs those with mTMD may have been related to the cohort used for mTMD.…”