5 Cool Things to Help You Endure Summer Heat With Chronic Pain

By Crystal Lindell

As temperatures heat up this summer, it can be difficult to get through hot sunny days when you’re also dealing with chronic pain and chronic illness. 

Weather is such a huge factor in the severity of day-to-day chronic pain levels, and if you’re on certain medications heat can also impact your body in other ways, like skin irritation and ankle swelling. 

Here are 5 things I use to get through the summer months while also dealing with chronic pain and chronic illness. 

Gold Bond Friction Defense Stick

My number one summer survival item is the Gold Bond Friction Defense Stick. I use it on my arms and thighs to prevent the heat and humidity from chaffing my skin if I’m wearing shorts, a tank top, a bathing suit or any light summer clothing. 

And this stuff seriously works! Putting it on after my morning shower makes such a huge difference in my quality of life throughout the summer. 

If you have a long day of walking, or swimming you may need to re-apply a few times, but for most day-to-day activities, I have found that once in the morning is more than adequate. 

Find it on Amazon here.

Compression Socks

Every summer my excessive ibuprofen use combines forces with my Ehler-Danlos Syndrome to make my ankles swell up – especially if the humidity is high.

So I swear by these compression socks, which virtually eliminate that symptom, even after long car rides. I have multiple packs of these in multiple colors, and throughout the summer months, I wear them almost daily. 

No, they aren’t super stylish with shorts, but if you wear them underneath pants, nobody can even tell. 

Find them on Amazon here. 

Light, Airy Pants

Speaking of pants, I tend to prefer them to shorts most of the time, even in the summer months. And these light, airy pants are great for enduring the heat. 

They offer all the comfort of pants, with all the breathability of shorts. I use them as pajamas, as well as pants to wear over my bathing suit at the pool, and even for lounging around during the day.

According to my Amazon order history, I have literally ordered these pants eight times! I have them in every color and even in multiple sizes. They’re also great at enduring weight fluctuations that are common when you’re on a lot of medications and dealing with chronic pain because of how stretchy the waist is. 

But the best things about these pants might be that they have pockets! If you’re familiar with the world of women’s pants, you know just how valuable and rare that feature is! 

Find them on Amazon here. 

Adjustable Fan

Sometimes chronic pain and related medications make us especially sensitive to heat and humidity, but a personal, adjustable fan can be a great way to cope. 

We have this fan in multiple colors, and we use them throughout the summer to direct air flow exactly where we want it. 

It’s relatively quiet for a fan, but it still packs a punch when it comes to cooling you off during the summer months. 

Find it on Amazon here. 

Summer Reading Club

If you’re looking for a comforting summer read, I can’t recommend “Garden Spells” by Sarah Addison Allen enough. It’s a very light, easy read that follows the stories of two sisters who have to navigate common sibling friction with the added stress of coming from a magical family that the whole town thinks is “weird.”

I read it for a book club recently and flew through it in two days. It’s a great light read, even if you’re have a chronic pain flare and can’t get off the couch. It also takes place in the south, and the heat is a common theme, making it perfect for getting into the summer state of mind.

Find it on Amazon here. 

What products do you use to get through the hot and humid summer months while dealing with chronic pain? We’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments below! 

The Pain News Network may make a small commission on items purchased through the links above. 

Weather App Provides Personalized Pain Forecast

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

Like many people who live with arthritis, Dave Richtor noticed that cold and wet weather made his joints ache more than usual.

“I’ve always just been stiffer and slower on grey days,” says Richtor, who lives in the seaside city of Brighton, south of London. “I’m in bed for ten hours a day. When I’m waking up and stiff, there’s obviously been in the night a temperature change.

“My grandma used to know when a storm was coming 20 minutes before it happened. She’d say, ‘Oh, a storm is coming. I’m getting a headache.’”

Feeling “under the weather” is more than just family folklore. Richtor was intrigued by a recent University of Manchester study called Cloudy With a Chance of Pain, which analyzed data from over 10,000 UK residents who recorded their daily pain levels on a smartphone app. The GPS location of their phones was then compared to local weather conditions.

The study found a modest association between weather and pain, with people more likely to feel muscle aches and joint pain on days with low barometric pressure – and the wet and windy weather that usually comes with it.

The study not only gave credibility to a link between weather and pain, it gave Richtor an idea. Why not create an app that gives users a personalized pain forecast? Many apps track the weather and some keep track of pain levels, but there were no apps that married the two.  

“I’ve done extensive research into it, and can’t see those two things matching up,” Richtor told PNN. “Most people I know in this field have been like, ‘Why hasn’t anyone done this before?’”

That’s the inspiration behind Weather Flare, a free health app designed to help people with chronic pain anticipate changes in the weather and their pain levels. Users create a personal profile of their conditions, medications and symptoms, which are then compared to weather conditions provided by AccuWeather. The app “learns” from user input and develops a customized forecast to help people prepare for changes in their symptoms. 

Richtor is currently holding a Crowdfunding campaign to raise money for further upgrades to the Weather Flare app.

Weather Flare is not just for pain sufferers. Richtor says people with asthma, allergies and other health conditions can benefit from knowing about weather conditions such as air quality and pollen counts.

He’s also working with a professor at the University of Sussex to develop a database to warn of drug interactions caused by the weather. For example, people with psoriasis who take methotrexate can be sensitive to prolonged sunlight.

“We’re incredibly excited to have the University of Sussex onboard to assist us with further developments for our app, making Weather Flare even more supportive for sufferers,” says Richtor. “The positive thing about me just having this crazy idea in my head, is that I can help other people manage their own conditions. If it just makes 1% of difference to someone’s day, then I’ve achieved what I set out to do.” 

The app is still in beta stage – meaning the developers are still working out some technical issues. When I downloaded the app, it was unable to recognize my location despite repeated attempts.

Weather Flare is not just for people in the UK. Because AccuWeather provides forecasts and weather conditions around the world, it can be used anywhere. To download the app, click here.