Are you living with fibromyalgia or know someone who is? Then, you can testify to the increased intensity of the pain during the winter. To live in a cold country like Canada with fibromyalgia is indeed a major challenge. So, what’s the best place to live in Canada with fibromyalgia?
Victoria is the best place in notoriously cold Canada where the weather won’t aggravate fibromyalgia symptoms. But there are other places where the weather is also comfortable for most of the year. They include Vancouver, Halifax, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Windsor, Calgary, St. Catharines, and Oshawa.
However, it’s impossible to escape snowy winters in Canada. Even the warmest places still have low temperatures come wintertime. So, those living with fibromyalgia in Canada might have to limit their exposure to the cold during the winter.
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What is Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a health condition that causes chronic pain, fatigue, insomnia, diarrhea or constipation, tiredness, and trouble concentrating. It’s quite common, with more than half a million Canadians suffering from it. Unfortunately, diagnosis is a little difficult, so there may be more cases. Although it happens to men too, it’s most common among women, with 8 of every 10 persons suffering from it being a woman.
The actual causes of this condition are yet to be determined, with some research showing it might be due to some issues with the signals nervous system leading to the person feeling the pain more easily. Fibromyalgia isn’t life-threatening, but it requires proper management, or it’ll affect the person’s quality of life. One of the ways to manage it is by living in the right environment.
Best Places in Canada for those Living with fibromyalgia
According to a survey, weather can contribute massively to the severity of symptoms for those living with fibromyalgia. Winter generally brings worsened symptoms, even though scientists are yet to fully understand why this happens. Due to these reasons, most of those who live with this condition prefer a temperate climate. This means limited humidity, where the weather never gets too hot or too cold. Finding places like that in cold and snowy Canada might seem like a challenge, but they exist. Here are the best places for those living with fibromyalgia
1. Victoria, BC
Those living with fibromyalgia don’t do well in extreme weather, and Victoria is a city where the weather is never extreme. The average daily temperature here rarely exceeds 15.3°C, and winter is also mild. Although there’s snow, it’s very minimal, and in the summer, you don’t have to worry about too much heat either.
Victoria is called the Garden City because of the many parks within it. One of the ways to manage fibromyalgia is with exercise, and the gardens and parks of this city provide ample space to do that while enjoying the sunshine. There are 211 days without frost in Victoria, an average of 323 nights have a temperature that doesn’t drop below 2°C, and for 189 days, the temperature is between 10 to 20 °C.
2. Vancouver, BC
Vancouver is the warmest major city in Canada and has one of the mildest winters in the country. For those living with fibromyalgia, a city that’s frost-free for 237 days is as amazing as it can get. The 293 days of warm nights and 175 days when the temperature is between 10 to 20 °C also reflect how warm the city is all through the year.
3. Halifax, NS
Halifax is the warmest city on the East Coast, with frost-free weather for 182 days on average every year. In Halifax, an average of 120 days in a year experience temperature between 10 and 20 °C, and 204 warm nights.
4. Kelowna, BC
This city is one of the warmest in Canada. It has a humid continental climate with an average temperature of 14.7°C all year round. All four seasons occur here. So, you can expect snow too, but the winter is never unbearable. In Kelowna, the temperature is between 10 to 20 °C for an average of 108 days in the year.
5. Abbotsford, BC
It seems all the warm cities are in British Columbia. This isn’t surprising, considering it’s the warmest province itself. However, Abbotsford doesn’t just have very warm weather. It’s also frost-free for a significant amount of days in the year. An average of 208 days in a year is frost-free in this city, making it a paradise of sorts for those living with fibromyalgia. In addition, Abbotsford enjoys an average of 163 days in a year when the temperature is between 10 and 20 °C.
6. Windsor, ON
Windsor is Canada mots southernmost city, with Detroit only minutes away. It has an amazing continental climate which makes it one of the warmest places to live in Canada, even in the winter. The average daily temperature rarely goes higher than 14.4°C and an average of 195 days are without frost annually. The city has also had just 39 frozen days throughout the year.
7. St. Catharines, ON
St. Catharines is an amazing place to live for anyone, but it’s one of the best places to live if you have fibromyalgia. Winter is quite warm, with 179 days frost-free, and the daily temperature never gets too hot or cold. An average of 113 days in a year has a mild temperature that’s between 20 -30°C.
8. Calgary, AB
Unlike Victoria that has an average of one day when the temperature is 0 °C or below, Calgary has 38 days. But for a country like Canada, 38 frozen days in a year is still pretty low. Calgary weather is quite okay, with an average of 116 days when the temperature is between 10 to 20 °C. The city is in the prairies, so it might get a little hot in the summer, but never unbearable.
9. Oshawa, ON
This is another city in Ontario that makes this list due to its warm conditions all year. It has an average of 210 days warm nights with the temperature staying at 2°C or higher. It has 168 frost-free days and 102 days of cool but warm conditions. The night is only chilly for about 25 days here.
In Conclusion
Fibromyalgia is a serious health condition that worsens in cold weather. Thus, the best places for those with this condition in Canada are the warmest parts of the country.