Fibromyalgia

It is a condition in which there is wide spread pain in the soft tissues along with tiredness and tenderness on different parts in your body. The exact cause of the problem is unknown but it is thought to be due to over stimulation of pain receptors in the body. It affects mainly women than men .The signs and symptoms vary from person to person. It can be triggered following a viral infection or MVA or can exist with Rheumatoid arthritis or Ankylosing spondylitis.

The symptoms are mainly a wide spread deep aching or burning pain in the muscles around, head, neck, shoulder blades, chest, and low back. Patients usually have fluctuation of pain with some days are pain free when other days with severe pain. The other symptoms are sleep disturbance, headache, depression, anxiety and problems with memory and concentration. These symptoms can affect the person’s family life as well as professional life .The symptoms are exacerbated by stress, increased physical activity, cold damp weather, humidity and trauma.

A registered Physiotherapist will be able to assess you and give you appropriate treatment to address your main problem which is your pain which limits your activity level. Manual techniques like joint mobilization and Soft tissue release techniques and acupuncture are effective in pain reduction. Light aerobic exercises and strength training is recommended to improve psychological symptoms and sleep disturbance and also improves the overall muscle strength and endurance.

Your Physiotherapist will be able to give you an exercise plan to keep you active and also able to advice you on self management strategies to control your musculoskeletal symptoms. Physiotherapist will be able to advice appropriate exercises in the pool which is beneficial for you as water will allow you to move your joints without exerting excessive energy or pressure on your joints.