Hello and welcome back to the ThreeSpires Physiotherapy blog where we take a look at all things physiotherapy and health related. Having looked at osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in our last two articles I thought we would continue this time with a look at an extremely distressing condition that physiotherapists will regularly encounter: fibromyalgia.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic and long-term condition in which patients tend to be extremely sensitive to touch and pressure in multiple areas of the body.

What are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a broad condition with a wide variety of symptoms but in general patients will experience a large amount of muscle and joint aching, feel extremely sensitive to touch and will often be very fatigued. Some patients will have tingling and pins and needles in their extremities.

What Causes Fibromyalgia?

As with many of the conditions that we have discussed in our physiotherapy articles, fibromyalgia is currently not that well understood and is a subject of much research. The exact cause of fibromyalgia is still not exactly known but genetics and environment are thought to be important.

How Common is Fibromyalgia?

As often people will live for many years (and sometimes their whole life!) it is difficult to be certain as to numbers of people with fibromyalgia. Estimates put the incidence of fibromyalgia at approximately 2-8% of the population with women being much more likely to have the condition and certainly its incidence seems to increase with age.

How is Fibromyalgia Diagnosed?

Diagnosing fibromyalgia is often difficult as symptoms are often vague, difficult to define and tests can be inconclusive with there being no definitive blood test or scan to show fibromyalgia. Often patients will have been on a long road to get a diagnosis of fibromyalgia which is sometimes only made after all other possibilities have been exhausted via, scans, investigations and various blood tests. Usually patients will have seen their GP who will have found that they have multiple areas of tenderness that correspond well with symptoms of fibromyalgia and then they will have been referred on to a rheumatologist who will make the formal diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Treatment of Fibromyalgia:

As with many complex conditions there is no universally accepted best treatment method and below I have attempted to list some reasonable options and ways of managing symptoms:

1. Early Diagnosis: getting accurate information about the condition, ruling out sinister pathologies such as cancer and getting a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia can actually be extremely relieving for patients. Many patients with fibromyalgia will have been getting unexplained fatigue and pain for a long time and will be very anxious that they have something sinister. Actually receiving a formal diagnosis of fibromyalgia can help alleviate an enormous amount of anxiety and allow them to work out how best to manage their condition.

 

2. Understand the Condition: finding out as much as possible about fibromyalgia, its nature, who is affected and usual symptoms is enormously empowering for patients. This allows them to understand how to best manage fibromyalgia themselves.

 

3. Exercise: although fatigue is a common side effect of fibromyalgia, exercise is often very helpful for patients with the condition. This can be as simple as going for a walk or swimming and mostly patients need to find the best form of exercise for themselves.

 

4. Massage: some patients (quite a few I have seen as a physio myself) find that massage and manual therapy helps alleviate their fibromyalgia symptoms.

 

5. Acupuncture: many patients find that acupuncture can help relieve some of the pain associated with fibromyalgia but as ever with acupuncture results can be variable.

 

6. Diet and a Healthy Lifestyle: eating well, drinking enough water, not smoking, not drinking alcohol to excess and making sure that you are getting the right amount of sleep are all good ways of enabling your body to try and work well. These can be helpful with reducing some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

 

7. Physiotherapy: as ever I am biased here! However, my own experience with patients has been that having an assessment by a physiotherapist can help enormously for patients with fibromyalgia. Getting a comprehensive assessment can help with understanding the condition, how the fibromyalgia affects the patient, how best to manage symptoms, which exercises to try and also whether massage and manual therapy works.

 How Can ThreeSpires Physiotherapy Help with Fibromyalgia?

 Our physiotherapists have a large amount of experience of helping patients with fibromyalgia and especially in assisting them when they have a flare up of their symptoms such as back and neck pain. We provide a home visit service based in Lichfield and serving patients with fibromyalgia in areas such as Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Cannock and Walsall to name but a few places our physios visit. To understand how we might be able to help with fibromyalgia it may helpful to use an example of a typical patient with fibromyalgia:

Fibromyalgia Case Study:

Mrs X is in her early 50s and has had fibromyalgia for many years (over 15) but only had a formal diagnosis approximately 8 years ago. She works and is generally fatigued and experiences an ongoing general back and neck ache that she manages well but sometimes has flare ups for reasons that she can not define. She contacted our home visit physiotherapy service because she lives in Sutton Coldfield and wanted a physiotherapist that would visit her at home. So, we booked an initial assessment of 1hr for her at home in Sutton Coldfield. On the initial assessment Mrs X was clear that she had a good understanding of her condition but wanted to find ways to better manage her condition and reduce her flare ups. The assessment identified a number of ways in which Mrs X was actually exacerbating her condition unknowingly and also identified some exercises and stretches that would help relieve some muscle tension. Manual therapy including massage and some spinal manipulation was tried and Mrs X found this to be very helpful and in discussion a general management plan was agreed. Mrs X then received a series of sessions of manual therapy to help settle her symptoms over the next few weeks and eventually decided that she would like to have monthly maintenance sessions to help keep her fibromyalgia at bay.

Okay, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this article about fibromyalgia, if you would like any more information or would like to book an assessment to see how we might be able to help with your fibromyalgia then please get in touch. For anyone reading this blog who hasn't come across our site before: we are a home visit physiotherapy service, based in Lichfield but serving anywhere within a 20 minute drive including areas such as Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Cannock, Burton and Rugeley. We offer a wide range of services including paediatric physiotherapy, post-operative rehabilitation, neurological physiotherapy and neck and back pain relief. If you need further information or would like to book an appointment we can be contacted on 0788 428 1623 or via enquiries@threespiresphysiotherapy.co.uk