Chinooks don't increase neuropathic pain, says doctor

A Calgary pain specialist says there is no parallel between chinooks and a certain type of nerve pain.

Dr. Cory Toth says while the link between the warm winds and migraines has been well established, he cant find evidence to support increased neuropathic pain.

A doctor with the Calgary Chronic Pain Centre at the Foothills Medical Centre, Toth says a few of his patients mentioned they had more neuropathic pain during chinooks.

But after conducting a study, Toth found exactly the opposite.

He said those who think their neuropathic pain gets worse during a Chinook may just be experiencing symptoms in their heads.

Toth studied roughly 100 people for six months then compared their symptoms with Environment Canada data.

"We looked at the data and actually it didn't influence pain," he said. "But we did find one weather condition that did, and this is unfortunate news for Calgary, but weather below -20 C aggravated pain. Whereas wind, high temperature, precipitationwhat little there is in Calgarydid not influence pain."

Toth says in fact symptoms of neuropathic pain diminished during chinooks because of the warmer weather that follows.