Fibromyalgia is one of the trickiest health conditions for physicians and medical experts to treat. While it may not be as serious as cancer or similar destructive conditions, fibromyalgia can be one of the most frustrating conditions to treat because of the pathology of the condition and the difficulty someone can have finding solutions to treat it.
Fibromyalgia is a term used to describe widespread pain in a person’s muscles and joints, and the underlying cause of this pain isn’t always the same. There are many triggers or factors that can influence the onset of fibromyalgia pain, so it’s important to work with a specialist to uncover exactly what’s leading to your flareup. Oftentimes, a physical therapist can be the one to do this for you. In today’s blog, we explain why a physical therapist can be exactly what you need if you suffer from fibromyalgia.
Physical Therapy For Fibromyalgia
Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia can be both a blessing and a curse. Many people find relief by finally having a diagnosis attached to their daily pain, but at the same time, being diagnosed and being effectively treated are two vastly different things. Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia is only a small step in the right direction, because we also need to work to identify what’s triggering these fibro flare ups. In many instances, one or more of the following factors can play into your fibromyalgia symptoms:
- Stress
- Poor sleep quality
- Underlying physical injury
- Undiagnosed illness
The good news is that a physical therapist can help examine all these underlying factors to determine if they are contributing to your fibromyalgia, and better yet, they are equipped to come up with treatment strategies to calm your fibromyalgia pain. For example:
- A physical therapist can help you uncover obvious and hidden sources of stress in your life, and help develop an exercise routine or provide you with coping strategies mitigate this stress from your life, or at least lessen its impact on your life.
- A PT can help talk about your sleep routine, uncover deficiencies or threats to quality sleep, and help you take steps to achieve more restful sleep and in turn find more control over your fibromyalgia.
- We can also conduct some physical tests or have you perform some simple manipulation exercises to look for underlying joint issues or physical injuries that could be causing these musculoskeletal pains. From there, we’ll develop some exercises to help strengthen the area and in turn reduce your fibro flare ups.
- Finally, a physical therapist can also order additional testing to help uncover overlooked illnesses or immunological deficiencies that could be causing your muscle and joint pain. Once identified, treating the underlying problem can help greatly curb fibromyalgia symptoms.
So if you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, know that it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not the only step you’ll have to take. You’ll want to invest in active treatment options to best control symptoms, and connecting with a physical therapist is often the best active option to pursue. For more information, or to talk with a physical therapist about your pain condition, reach out to the experienced team at OrthoRehab Specialists today.