Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a noninflammatory, nondegenerative and nonprogressive disorder with widespread pain, it comes with general fatigue, sleep disorder and depression.
It is believed that fibromyalgia amplifies the feeling of pain by affecting the brain’s pain sensation process. That simply means that the patient feels the pain more than they are supposed to.
Fibromyalgia is very difficult to diagnose, as there are no identifiable specific changes in the patient’s blood test, x-ray or scan. Symptoms may start or get aggravated by physical or emotional stress such as an accident, surgery or psychological stress.
Symptoms of fibromyalgia is including and not limited to:
- Diffuse pain, most commonly in neck, shoulder, arm, lower back, hips, thighs and calves
- Widespread stiffness and limitation of movements in joints,
- Morning stiffness
- Slumped posture, meaning forward head, elevated and round shoulders,
- Tender points on touch
- Feeing unwell, pale and slow moving
- General fatigue
- Sleep disturbances
- Visual problems
- Irritable bladder and bowel
- Cognitive problems like impaired memory and decreased attention
- Restless legs, numbness, and tingling
- and finally, psychological problems such as anxiety and depression
Fibromyalgia occurs mostly in middle age women. It runs in the family, Symptoms fluctuate, meaning in symptoms, means that severity of symptoms differs by day.
Two criteria for diagnosis is widespread pain lasting at least 3 months and the presence of 11 positive tender points
Contributing factors are environmental stress, physical stress and emotional stress
How is fibromyalgia treated in a physiotherapy clinic?
If you follow the given instructions, you can manage the pain and symptoms of Fibromyalgia.
The first step is to find out and avoid any thing that aggravates the pain and the symptoms, whether it is physical and/or emotional stress.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol and talk to your nutritionist for further instructions
In physiotherapy clinic we can help you in 3 different approaches:
1. Electrotherapy or using electrical equipment to relief pain and breaking down the spasm.
2. Manual therapy, including soft tissue release and manual stretching to release the knots and relieve the tender points. It is done by physiotherapists and/or osteopath practitioners
3. Exercise Therapy which includes two parts:
A. Home Exercise Program which are being instructed and gradually increased step by step by your physiotherapist. These exercises help you to relieve the pain and stiffness.
B. Aerobic Exercise which would be programmed and instructed by your physiotherapist depending on the severity of the symptoms. I will go into further details in the chronic fatigue speech.
If you have any more questions, give us a call,
Stay safe,