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A detailed guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), including its symptoms, causes, and effective treatment strategies to improve energy and well-being.

  • Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis Based on Researches

    Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis Based on Researches

    Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis are two conditions that often go hand in hand with each other. Over the years we have lost count of the number of clients who were plagued with the hallmark sharp stabbing pains, that often come with Costochondritis. Within this topic are many questions, most of which become a whole lot harder to answer when we factor In Fibromyalgia.

    There are many people in the general population who have Costochondritis, it’s not just another issue that comes along with Fibromyalgia. However, as we will come to find when we take a look at some of the research, Costochondritis does seem to be far more prevalent in those with Fibromyalgia.

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    What is Costochondritis?

    Costochondritis is the term given to inflammation of the cartilage that joins your ribs to your breastbone, also known as the costochondral joint. Inflammation is a natural response to illness or injury, it’s essentially the immune system’s response to help initiate the healing process, in other words, it is a defence mechanism that is vital to our survival. 

    Whilst Inflammation is one of the body’s greatest tools, it doesn’t feel all that great when it does happen. After all, the point of inflammation is healing, and this means that more blood is redirected to the area, tissues become more permeable to allow increased blood flow and nutrients to the areas, and the nerves in the surrounding areas become a whole lot more sensitive. If you have ever had a paper cut you will know exactly what I mean. For such a small cut, it sure does impact your day to day activities.

    With Costochondritis, the costochondral cartilage, which connects your ribs to your breastbone, and surrounding tissue can become inflamed, making it tender and unpleasant when pressure is applied, and in most cases, simply from breathing or even moving.

    Symptoms of Costochondritis

    The obvious leading symptom is chest pain, typically it is described as a sharp or stabbing pain, and sometimes it is described as more of a dull ache which often becomes worse when moving or exerting the chest muscles. This can also include breathing, which can cause an increase in pain with large breaths. Many people find that even the slightest touch or pressure around the sternum and ribs can fire off a pain response, as the nerve becomes more and more sensitive due to the inflammatory response.

    The most commonly reported pain from Costochondritis can be found in the sternum, around the 4th-6th ribs. However, as the inflammation increases, it’s not uncommon for the pain to begin to spread.

    Does Costochondritis cause fatigue?

    A question we hear a lot of is “Does Costochondritis cause fatigue?”

    Again, this question takes a little research and some critical thinking to answer. There are some good studies that show us that there is a pretty strong connection between fatigue and Rheumatic conditions in general.  In one study of patients with different rheumatic conditions, there was found a  54% prevalence of fatigue for those with a single inflammatory rheumatic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or ankylosing spondylitis. However, this prevalence shot up to 82% for those with Fibromyalgia. In essence, from this and multiple other studies, one out of every two patients with a rheumatic disease seems to be severely fatigued.

    On one side of the coin, there are many folk in the general population who do have Costochondritis but report minimal fatigue. And on the other side of the coin, we have those with fibromyalgia and Costochondritis, who report major fatigue associated with it. It’s unlikely that costochondritis directly causes fatigue, as both those with fibromyalgia and without it would be affected. However, that does not mean that it does not indirectly cause fatigue.

    If you ask anyone with chronic pain about sleep, they will tell you that it’s incredibly difficult to get a good nights sleep when you are in pain. And one of the hallmark symptoms of sleep disturbances and deprivations is fatigue. Therefore, it’s not such a huge leap to assume that someone with Costochondritis, or Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis, would experience fatigue as an indirect result of being unable to sleep properly due to being in pain.

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    Likewise, many people with Fibromyalgia, often learn and develop certain coping skills for sleeping when it comes to dealing with the pain of Fibromyalgia. It’s very likely that due to differences in the pain experience, Costochondritis may cause undue stress and anxiety which could disrupt sleep also. Pain from Costochondritis is very hallmarked, it’s sharp, disruptive, and can often make people wonder if there is something wrong with their heart. Therefore, many people with Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis may struggle to sleep due to the new pain that comes from Costochondritis.

    Is there a connection between Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis 

    When living with Fibromyalgia, it is often hard to distinguish what pain comes from which issue. Many people have gone to their doctors with legitimate concerns, only for those concerns to be passed off as just another Fibro symptom.

    One example of this is from a consultation we had here at chronicillness.co, some years back. A young woman had been suffering from severe headaches and every time she went back to the doctors it was promptly put down as caused by Fibromyalgia. However, at her consultation with us, and after going through her history, it was blatant that this young woman had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. What also stood out was that her headaches were immediately cut in severity when she lay down. Suspecting a Cerebrospinal fluid leak we quickly referred her to her local hospital. And low and behold, it was indeed a spinal fluid leak. After a blood patch, and bed rest to closely monitor for leak recurrence, she recovered after around 6 weeks and has never had another headache since.

    We have many stories from over the years just like this one, but the point to take is that you should never put new symptoms down to Fibromyalgia.

    While working with our clients in the studio, it’s really not uncommon for us to get the “Is my Costochondritis and Fibromyalgia related?” question. And this is a good question, anecdotally you probably know a whole host of individuals with Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis, but are they related.

    When looking at the evidence on this topic, it becomes more clear that they are likely linked, as the prevalence of patients with Fibromyalgia who also have non-cardiac chest pain is far higher than in the general population. In a study conducted in 2016 that looked at symptoms of people with Fibromyalgia, across 4 groups it was found that on average, 29.1% of the 313 participants either currently or previously had Costochondritis. And when compared to the general population, it was found that chest pain in primary care it only accounted for 13%. 

    In an overview of symptoms of patients hospitalised in the US between 1999-2007, there were over 1.7 million people during this time with Fibromyalgia, of those patients, 10% presented with non-specific chest pain (around 170,000 people). While this is closer to the general population we have to remember that these were only the ones who felt the pain was bad enough to go to the hospital, and its worth remembering that when living with Fibromyalgia, it tends to take a much higher level of pain before seeking medical intervention due to living in pain being accepted as normal. 

    There may well be a few reasons why are more commonly found together:

    1. Sleep
      If the last few decades of research into sleep and pain have taught us anything, it’s that with lack of sleep comes a prevalence for more pain. Sleep disruptions lead to hyperalgesia pain changes, which means that your brain becomes far more responsive to noxious stimuli, lowering the pain threshold, and even going as far as to impact our own bodies’ ability to realise pain-killing chemicals. For those with Fibromyalgia, sleep is most often a major issue. Therefore, an activity that would not normally be deemed as strenuous, may become strenuous for someone with Fibromyalgia, and could potential lead to the development of Costochondritis, due to inflammatory responses from strenuous activity or movement.
    2. Guarding response
      For those in pain, it’s really not uncommon to find them adopting postures to make the pain more bearable. Whilst this may help in the short term, over time staying in any one position can become painful. In the instance of Costochondritis, it’s not a far reach to assume that putting prolonged strain on the costochondral joints and cartilage, could potentially cause an inflammatory response causing Costochondritis for those with Fibromyalgia.
    3. Lack of activity
      The decrease in activity levels amongst those with Fibromyalgia, as well as being in pain, can lead to sensitisation which lowers tissue tolerance to stress before an inflammatory response is deemed necessary. For tissue to be healthy, we need to move, and for those with Fibromyalgia, this can often be an issue. This gives us another potential reason for a link between Fibromylagia and Costochondritis.
    4. Hypermobility
      It has been shown in a number of studies that there is a link between hypermobility and Fibromyalgia. One study showed that 46.6% of the Fibromyalgia patients participating, scored at least 4 or more on the Beighton scoring system (A method used to determine hypermobility), compared to 28.8% of the control group. When we look deeper at the connection between Fibromyalgia and Hypermobility, the issues surrounding chest pain and Fibromyalgia can be further explained.The high prevalence of misdiagnosis in the hypermobile population, most likely contributes to the increase of those with Fibromyalgia experiencing inflammation of the chest. A common symptom surrounding hypermobility, is that of joint subluxation/dislocation, due to the genetic make-up of collagen. And a common issue associated with this is rib subluxation. We wrote an article around hypermobility rib subluxation earlier this year, which you can find here. Hypermobility may account for the prevalence of Costochondritis in the Fibromyalgia population, as slipping rib syndrome is pain from inflammation of the cartilage that.

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    Fibromyalgia Chest Pain

    Chest pain can be terrifying when it happens, it can even be severe enough to mimic the symptoms of a heart attack. I remember when I had my first experience of this, I actually thought I was dying and it wasn’t until I was in the hospital, that I found out that I was fine. But, none the less it was a pretty scary experience, as I couldn’t breathe properly because of the pain, and it felt like a tight band around my chest.

    The good news though, is that Costochondritis is it is not cardiac related, so it isn’t related to the heart. When there is inflammation in the chest this often leads to shortness of breath, due to us trying to breathe in a more limited fashion to reduce the pressure on the chest. This change in our respiration will often lead to us not taking in as much oxygen as we normally would, and can leave us feeling like we can’t breathe and panicked. But, again, Costochondritis is it is not cardiac related.

    Can Fibromyalgia make Costochondritis worse? 

    Living with Fibromyalgia is bad enough, but when adding Costochondritis to the mix it can seem a whole lot worse. But can Fibromyalgia make Costochondritis worse?

    Fibromyalgia often leads to central and peripheral sensitization where nerves are a lot more sensitive to noxious stimuli, so it will take less pressure on the chest before these nerves fire and alert the brain of a potentially dangerous stimulus. This would make it feel a lot more tender to the touch than it should normally be. Think of a turn dial that usually likes to sit at 1-3 unless something is wrong (like inflammation) and is then turned up when there is an issue. With Fibromyalgia though, the dial is already sitting at 7, so when a potential threat is noticed this can turn it up to 10. This can result in more painful sensations than are usually warranted. So, given what we know about the current pain mechanisms, having fibromyalgia is likely to make having Costochondritis worse than it would be for someone without fibro.

    Treating Costochondritis or Fibromyalgia chest pain 

    Your first port of call when it comes to Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis should be your doctor. Anti-inflammatories will help to deal with a lot of the pain from Costochondritis, but this isn’t a long term solution. As we previously mentioned, having a healthy and happy rib cage means that it needs to be able to move freely, so this should be your second port of call: focusing on relearning to move your ribs.

    We would also suggest that you check to make sure that you are indeed not Hypermobile and that the pain doesn’t arise from a rib subluxation.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis Based on Researches

    We often get asked about Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis from our clients, because more often than not, they have been told numerous scary stories by consultants. Likewise, many of the people we speak to have read many articles online, that are laden with misinformation. Osteoarthritis as a whole, gest a bit of a bad reputation, despite being completely normal and inevitable.

    In fact, even the name Osteoarthritis is somewhat of a misnomer, as “Osteo” means bone,”‘Arth” means joint, and “Itis” means inflammation. And when we realise that Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition, not an inflammatory one, we can start to see why there is likely so much misinformation around fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, especially considering it’s not even named correctly!

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    For those of you reading, we can appreciate that having more labels attached to you can be a scary thing. A lot of the time people have only just gotten used to and accepted the Fibromyalgia label, before being hit with another in the form of osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, for most people, a quick google of Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis brings up many horror stories and a tonne of misinformation.  This misinformation has the potential to not only make your pain worse, but ultimately make your world smaller and smaller as you inevitably try to protect yourself more and more over time.

    So, in the following article let’s take a look at a few things that we should know about when it comes to Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis.

    What is Osteoarthritis?

    Osteoarthritis is defined as “Degeneration of the joint cartilage and underlying bones, usually accompanied by pain and stiffness, and most commonly found in the hips, knees and thumb joints.”

    In a healthy joint, a coating of tough but smooth called cartilage covers and protects the surface of the bones, helping them to move freely against each other. However, when a joint develops osteoarthritis, part of the cartilage thins and the surface becomes rougher. This means the joint doesn’t move as smoothly as it should, causing the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones breaks down, potentially causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint. When cartilage becomes worn or damaged, all the tissues within the joint become more active than normal, as the body tries to repair the damage. This can result in swelling and inflammation of the joint.

    As we mentioned earlier, Osteoarthritis isn’t really properly named, because whilst there can be inflammation present, it’s the degeneration that defines it. After all. we already have a name for inflammatory arthritis which we call Rheumatoid arthritis.

    There is a good chance you are reading this because you have Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, and you want to know if they will affect one another. Well, having fibromyalgia does change a few things when it comes to osteoarthritis, but it’s mainly not anything to do with the actual tissues, and don’t worry, we will cover these other factors in this article. But, before we get into how Fibromyalgia may affect osteoarthritis, let’s start with a question that’s a little easier to answer for: why do we get Osteoarthritis in the first place?

    Why do we get Osteoarthritis?

    As we age our bodies incur wear and tear from just being alive. Our hair grows thin and turns grey, our skin thins, and we developed wrinkles. It is essentially just part of the human condition, and just as we degenerate on the outside of our bodies, we also degenerate on the inside.

    Ask yourself this question: Do wrinkles hurt?”

    No, they don’t, well not physically anyway. Anti-wrinkle cream is a multi-million-pound industry, so it’s evident that wrinkles do cause some emotional distress for the majority of us!

    So then, if degeneration on the outside of the body doesn’t cause us any pain, then why would degeneration on the inside cause it?

    Keep in mind also, that we are way more sensitive to changes on the outside of the body than we are on the inside. There are a great many people right now, with very severe degeneration, who have absolutely no pain. Likewise, there are also people with very little osteoarthritis, who are in a great deal of pain. Before we get into the complexities that is Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, it’s important to remember that this wear and tear is a normal part of ageing. In fact, in the next section, let’s take a look at a few studies that show us that normal wear and tear can actually be painless or not correlate to damage.

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    Some people have pain, whilst others don’t

    As we mentioned before, there is a lot of misinformation around Osteoarthritis, and probably even more around Fibromyalgia. So, let’s take a look at some studies and start to break down those damaging narratives that you have likely been told or have read.

    One study focusing on professional football players found that 92% of football players had at least 1 spinal degenerative condition, but in some cases, more than 6 were found. The interesting thing was that none of them reported any pain. This is a nice study that helps us look at the complexities of pain, as when it comes to chronic pain it isn’t always about the tissue.

    There is a ridiculous amount of evidence that shows us that pain is not tightly linked to tissue damage. And when it comes to Osteoarthritis, there should also be evidence of people with severe degeneration shown on a scan, but who feel fine, and vice versa. This study of 113 people found exactly that, a huge disconnect between degeneration and pain. In which they found that the people with less degeneration had more pain, and those with more degeneration had less pain!

    It kind of changes your opinion on some of the stuff you have been told doesn’t it.

    Another study looking at the general population, wherein the focus was on the difference between structural changes in the knees and symptoms, found that there isn’t a great connection between the severity of the condition and pain. However, they did find that the symptomatic group had a slower walking speed, longer stride and standing times and reduced strength. Which, when you think about it, makes complete sense. If you are in pain it’s unlikely that you’re going to be moving quickly, but rather taking your time in an effort to not increase pain levels.

    That was the only real difference that this study found between those with Osteoarthritis who had pain and those with it who had no pain. Keep in mind also, that another study found that cartilage defects were found in around 11% of those under the age of 40 who had no pain. This percentage jumped to 43% for those over the age of 40, but still without pain. As you can start to see, that actual amount of degeneration doesn’t really correlate with the amount of pain you would expect someone to have.

    In this study, it wasn’t just the cartilage they focused on, but also tissue. There were instances of meniscal tears in up to 19% of the study, bone marrow lesions and even bone spurs were present in 12-24%. I think a good place to end this section is to look at a study from 20 years ago, that will really challenge your beliefs about osteoarthritis and pain.

    This study showed that people who received a fake arthroscopic knee surgery for Osteoarthritis had results just as good as people who received the real surgery. And in 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine added more experimental evidence to the pile, reporting that “surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy.”

    In the years to follow, there has been an exceptional level of evidence showing that arthroscopic debridement has no benefit, showing that it is no better than a placebo.

    Where does the pain of Osteoarthritis come from then?

    We have established that the amount of Osteoarthritis doesn’t really correlate with the amount of pain a person experiences. So what is going on then if it’s not about the actual degeneration?  Well, this is where Fibromyalgia can start to make things a little bit more complicated.

    When we look at the pain and symptom severity of Osteoarthritis, historically, cartilage damage was believed to be the hallmark of Osteoarthritis. However, since cartilage is an avascular, aneural tissue, the mechanisms of pain are likely to be way more complex than first thought, and most likely influenced by non-cartilaginous structures in the joint including the synovium. The current body of evidence points to pain sensitization, and molecular pathways, as the possible main driver of Osteoarthritis pain.

    Like we said before, when it comes to chronic pain, it’s not always about the tissue. We know chronic pain changes the brain and nervous system, causing the brain to take note of inputs that it really shouldn’t be. Hence why so many with conditions like Fibromyalgia often developed other conditions such as allodynia.

    Can you have Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis?

    The Simple answer is yes, it is more common than you think, in fact when you are going through all the tests to get your Fibromyalgia diagnosed, you’ll most likely be told about degeneration somewhere in the body.

    Both diagnoses have overlapping symptoms such as pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion. It’s also not just Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia, but other rheumatic conditions. One study showed that between 20-30% of those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, also had co-morbid rheumatic conditions. When we look at the data for just Osteoarthritis, we find that between 10% – 17% of those living with Fibromyalgia also have Osteoarthritis 

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    Does Fibromyalgia make Osteoarthritis worse?

    As we mentioned earlier, Fibromyalgia does indeed have the potential to complicate Osteoarthritis.

    Those with Fibromyalgia suffer from abnormalities in the way that the brain deals with pain. Supraspinal processes have a top-down enhancing effect on nociceptive processing in the brain and spinal cord. Studies have begun to suggest that such influences occur in conditions such as fibromyalgia. This means that those who do have Fibromyalgia may be far more sensitive to noxious stimuli compared to the general population. Factoring in changes at the joint, those with Fibromyalgia may be more prone to reacting to these changes byways of producing pain.

    There have been a few studies that have looked into how Fibromyalgia may affect Osteoarthritis. One such study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, measured brainwaves in response to short painful laser pulses on the skin of patients suffering from osteoarthritic and fibromyalgia pain, as well as test subjects who had no underlying pain. Scientists discovered that the insula cortex part of the brain increased its activity when expecting a painful pulse, as it predicts the extent and intensity of the patients’ own chronic pain.

    It is important to keep in mind, that increased activity in this brain area has been linked to a number of phenomena, including body perception and emotional processing, which might explain the greater pain perception in some patients.

    In essence, there are a lot of factors that come with fibromyalgia that can make osteoarthritis worse, when compared to individuals without it. One such factor is sleep disturbances. It is well documented that with sleep disturbances and lack of sleep, comes an increase in pain. For those with Fibromyalgia, getting a good, restful night’s sleep can be somewhat of a challenge due to pain. Meaning that it has the potential to create a breeding ground for worsening the symptoms of not just fibromyalgia pain, but also the pain of Osteoarthritis.

    With chronic pain, also comes the prevalence of mental health issues, which can also make symptoms worse. It is well established that mental health issues can be a large driving force behind chronic pain. And for those with Fibromyalgia, they may be more prone to experiencing pain with Osteoarthritis, whereas those without fibromyalgia may likely not even notice these degenerative changes.

    What treatments help Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis?

    We have taken a look at what Osteoarthritis is, how it’s caused, and how Fibromyalgia may affect it. All that is left now is to look at some of the things that can help you when it comes to Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis.

    Massage
    It has been shown that massage can be particularly effective at lowering pain in osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia. An analysis of 9 studies found that massage helped to improve pain, anxiety, and depression associated with Fibromyalgia.

    Gentle aerobic exercise
    This has shown benefits for Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. And both studies showed a reduction in pain.

    Stay hydrated
    It is estimated that around 70% of your cartilage is made up of water, and when we are dehydrated this is going to affect the joints, as the more lubricated a joint is, the less friction there will be. This is important when we remember the studies into those with Fibromyalgia being more sensitive to noxious stimuli. We want to reduce the amount of noxious stimulus coming into the nervous system.

    Cold showers
    The benefits of cold showing with Fibromyalgia can be found in a comprehensive blog post we wrote, which you can find here. The benefits of cold showering with Osteoarthritis can help by reducing pain, decreasing swelling, and constricting blood vessels.

    We hope the above has helped to answer the questions you have about Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, and we wish you the best of luck on your journey.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Acute Pain and Chronic Pain

    Pain can be broken down into two categories: acute pain, such as a cut on the leg, a tension headache, or a bone fracture, and chronic pain, pain which lasts longer and can be more serious. Let’s take a look at the major differences between the two.

    Acute pain is normal pain that lets the body know it’s been hurt. For example, breaking a leg, banging an elbow into a door, or putting a hand on a hot plate and feeling the burn are all considered good pain because the body is announcing that an injury has occurred.

    Acute pain starts suddenly and usually doesn’t last long. When the injury heals, the pain stops. For example, a broken leg will hurt during recovery but will get better as time goes on.

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    With chronic pain, the pain itself actually becomes a disease. When the injury heals and the patient continues having pain beyond the time of expected recovery, that’s chronic pain.

    Chronic pain lasts for weeks, months, and even years. Generally, it’s diagnosed after three to six months of pain. In some cases, the pain comes and goes. With chronic pain, one’s nervous system is sometimes altered, making it more sensitive to pain. As a result, painful sensations might feel more severe and last longer.

    In some cases, certain chronic diseases cause chronic pain. Arthritis, for example, and cancer, diabetes, and fibromyalgia are other diseases that can cause continuing pain

    Unfortunately, doctors cannot always find the cause of chronic pain. In a minority of cases, the cause is unclear. Patients should talk to their doctor about their pain if the pain lasts longer than reasonably expected. Some guidelines have defined “chronic pain” as pain that lasts longer than 3-6 months, but whenever pain lasts longer than reasonably expected, it’s crucial to treat it to keep it from worsening into chronic pain. An example of this would be a small cut or burn which normally wouldn’t cause pain after a month; if it does, a doctor should be called rather than waiting for three months.

    People with disorders that cause chronic pain should also talk to their doctors about treatments that provide relief or help them to cope with pain. Treatments include pain relievers and other medications, acupuncture, biofeedback, relaxation training, hypnosis, distraction techniques, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. With this last method, patients use a TENS device to pass a mild electrical current through the skin to reduce pain.

    Most patients with pain don’t need to see a pain specialist, but if the pain lasts much longer than expected, or a primary care doctor or specialist hasn’t been able to treat the chronic pain satisfactorily, asking for a referral to a pain specialist may help.

    Patients should go to a physician specifically trained in pain so they’ll receive a medical exam to diagnose their problem, as well as proper pain management. Typically, these pain specialists come from the fields of neurology, anesthesia, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Then they undergo additional training in pain medicine.

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    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Hypermobility Knee Exercises Based on Researches

    People generally have some issues with the specific hypermobility knee exercises that are currently out there. They either don’t work or they yield very little results. This is largely due to the simple fact that the current treatment around exercises for those with hypermobility, are built on a false premise and simply do not take into account the nuances that come with this population.

    The gold standard at the moment for hypermobile knee exercises, and indeed any exercise for those with hypermobility, seems to be the old “build muscle around the joint to help stabilise it” approach.

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    This old outdated approach that has seen many hypermobile people simply lose interest in, after seeing it return such little results, comes with 2 main issues. Issues that most people don’t really talk about.

    1. Building muscle requires sufficient load and consistency to do so. How is anyone with unstable joints supposed to use such load required to build muscle and not get injured?
    2. Muscle gains are slow. If we use women as an example, and whilst ensuring that training and diet are on point, we could expect to see around a 10lb gain in muscle mass over the course of a year. However, there are no studies that follow muscle gain in those with hypermobility. So how much muscle are we supposed to add to create stable joints: 5lb, 25lb? and how are we supposed to even add muscle tissue when we can’t handle the load required to build muscles in the first place?

    There are also other issues, such as why do women with high muscle mass still dislocate, whilst others with less muscle mass dislocate less?

    The current treatment seems to fall apart somewhat when we start to question it. No wonder this current treatment has caused so much distress and gaslighting to those with hypermobility when it doesn’t even make any sense. We have seen so many people in the studio who have all reported the same thing, they did their physio, it didn’t work, and they were blamed for not trying hard enough.

    What’s needed in a hypermobile knee exercise?

    In order to stabilise a joint, a few key points need to be met:

    1. You need a tactile cue to light up the areas of the brain dedicated to the knee ( Like KT tape or a band), in order to connect to the tissue.
    2. The load needs to be used in a closed chain fashion.
    3. Specific mapping techniques need to be used to detail those cortical maps and give control over the joint again.
    4. Load needs to be increased over time to ensure tissue tolerance goes up.
    5. And for detailing of the cortical maps for long term (tactile cues are only temporary) you need coding pattern techniques (chat to one of the team)

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    Many people have used many different forms of exercise to help stabilises hypermobile knees, and whilst we often see swimming or hydrotherapy as a form of great exercise, please remember there are issues with these.

    We live on land and we need to be able to deal with the various forces that enact upon us. Whilst swimming can be a great form of cardiovascular exercise, it is not doing a great deal in the form of stabilising our joints, and it takes away the loading forces that will help up in the long run, which can decondition us further.

    There is also an issue with the use of hydrotherapy, those 39-degree waters will vasodilate our blood vessels, forcing our hearts to work harder to pump blood around, as well as causing blood pooling,  potentially making us dizzy and faint. Which is not want we want when we are in a large body of water.

    Load is a crucial part of stabilising joints, however, it needs to be the right form of load. Open chain exercises such as the leg extension machine you would find at any gym, are a good example of bad load, putting large leverage forces through tissue, which those of us with hypermobility can not properly handle(yet).

    A good hypermobile knee exercise needs to be transferable to everyday life, meaning the benefits of it cross over to other movements and other activities.

    There seems to be much demand for a simple and effective hypermobility knee exercise. So, below you can find one of our favourite hypermobility knee exercises, which is aimed at helping those with hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, by addressing some of the real issues that need to be addressed.

    Keep in mind, that a large problem with hypermobility exercises, in general, is that individuals tend to have trouble contracting the right tissues or even feeling the muscle they are exercising in the first place. This is why a tactile cue, used with a closed chain exercise, is a great way to train the tissue and your brain, in an exercise that is transferable to everyday life.

    For this type of exercise, it is far better to use time, rather than sets and repetitions. You can start off performing this exercise for up to 1 minute twice per day, and spend the next 3 weeks trying to get up to a total of 4 minutes.

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  • Chronic Pain Due to Sciatica

    Chronic Pain Due to Sciatica

    Sciatica refers to pain, weakness, numbness, and/or tingling in the leg and it is caused by injury to or pressure on the sciatic nerve.

    The sciatic nerve starts in the lower spine and runs down the back of each leg. Not only does it control the muscles of the back of the knee and lower leg, but it also provides sensation to the back of the thigh, the sole of the foot, and part of the lower leg. When there is pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve, sciatica occurs.

    The most common causes of sciatica include pelvic injury or fracture, tumors, herniated discs, and piriformis syndrome (a pain disorder involving the narrow muscle in the buttocks).

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    When a herniated disc presses on nerve roots, it can cause pain, numbness, and weakness in the area of the body where the nerve travels. A herniated disc in the lower back can cause pain and numbness in the buttock and down the leg. Sciatica is the most common symptom of a herniated disc in the low back.

    If a herniated disc is not pressing on a nerve, patients may have a backache or no pain at all.

    Sciatica pain tends to vary from patient to patient. Some may feel a mild tingling, dull ache, or burning sensation, but in more severe cases, the pain is sometimes intense enough that a patient is unable to move. Though it usually only affects one side of the lower body, patients occasionally experience pain on both sides.

    Symptoms of sciatica are burning or tingling down the leg, pain in the rear of the leg that is worse when sitting, shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand, and weakness, numbness, or difficulty moving the leg or foot. Pain may also extend to the foot or toes depending on where the nerve is affected.

    Pain can also start slowly and get worse after standing or sitting for long periods of time, at night, when patients sneeze, cough, or laugh, and when patients bend backward or walk more than a few yards (this most often occurs with spinal stenosis patients).

    After sciatica is diagnosed by a pain management specialist, the next step is determining and treating the underlying cause because sciatica is a symptom of another medical condition. In certain cases, recovery occurs on its own and no treatment is required.

    The main objective of sciatica treatment is to calm the symptoms and reduce inflammation. Applying heat or ice to the painful area is a good idea, as well as taking over-the-counter pain medications such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Patients should reduce their activity for several days, though bed rest is not recommended. Also, avoid heavy lifting or twisting of the back for the first six weeks after the pain begins.

    If patients still feel pain, injections to reduce inflammation around the nerve may have to be given. Other prescription medications may also be prescribed, along with physical therapy exercises. Since nerve pain is typically difficult to treat, patients may want to see a neurologist or a pain specialist.

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  • Most Common Causes of Upper Back Pain

    Most Common Causes of Upper Back Pain

    Lower back pain is a common problem among people suffering from chronic pain, and while upper back pain is not a very common spinal disorder, it can cause significant discomfort and pain when it does occur. The most common causes of upper back pain are muscular irritation (myofascial pain) and joint dysfunction.

    While there can sometimes be an injury to a disc in the upper back (such as a thoracic herniated disc or degenerated disc) that causes severe upper back pain, such injuries are usually very rare.

    The reason why upper back pain is so rare is that the thoracic spine (also called upper back, middle back, or mid-back) is very different in form and function than the cervical spine (neck) or the lumbar spine (lower back). The neck and lower back are designed to provide us with mobility, but the thoracic spine is designed to be very strong and stable to allow us to stand upright and protect the vital internal organs in the chest. Because this section of the spinal column has a great deal of stability and only limited movement, there is generally little risk of injury or degeneration over time in the upper back.

    Because there is little motion and a great deal of stability throughout the upper back (thoracic spine), this section of the spine does not tend to develop common spinal disorders, such as a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, or spinal instability. These conditions can cause upper back pain but are exceedingly rare in the upper back.

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    Because of this stability and lack of motion, in most cases, anatomic causes of upper back pain cannot be found, and an MRI scan or CT scan will rarely image an anatomic problem that is amenable to any sort of surgical solution for the upper back pain.

    Upper back pain can occur as a result of trauma or sudden injury, or it can occur through strain or poor posture over time. As an example of the latter cause, in recent years, upper back pain has become a familiar complaint from people who work at computers most of the day. Often, upper back pain occurs along with neck pain and/or shoulder pain.

    The vast majority of cases of upper back pain are due to one (or both) of the following: muscular irritation (myofascial pain) and joint dysfunction.

    The shoulder girdle attaches by large muscles to the scapula (the shoulder blade) and the back of the thoracic rib cage. These large upper back muscles are prone to developing irritation (myofascial pain) that can be painful and difficult to work out.

    Often, muscular irritation and upper back pain are due to either de-conditioning (lack of strength) or overuse injuries (such as repetitive motions). Muscle strains, sports injuries, auto accidents, or other injuries can all result in pain from muscular irritation.

    The ribs connect with the vertebrae in the thoracic spine by two joints that connect with each side of the spine, and dysfunction in these joints can result in upper back pain.

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  • What Are the Risks of Pain Relief Alternatives to Opioids?

    What Are the Risks of Pain Relief Alternatives to Opioids?

    With so much attention focused on the dangers of opioid painkillers, it’s easy to forget that even “safe” over-the-counter products carry some dangers.

    If you don’t think twice about reaching for a pill to relieve aches and pains, especially medicines called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, you need to know about the wide-ranging cautions surrounding their use, especially if you take them on a regular basis and over a long period of time.

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    NSAIDs can cause:

    • New or worsening high blood pressure
    • Heart failure
    • Liver issues
    • Kidney damage
    • Anemia
    • Life-threatening skin and allergic reactions

    NSAIDs can also increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke, even within just the first few weeks of using one, and the risk can rise over time. Your risk for heart issues is greater if you have high blood pressure or heart disease or recently had a heart attack or bypass surgery. Aspirin is the one NSAID this warning doesn’t apply to. However, NSAIDs, including aspirin, can damage the stomach lining and cause gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding and ulcers.

    Your risk for GI issues is higher if you:

    • Take NSAIDs long-term
    • Are over age 60
    • Are a heavy drinker
    • Have a history of GI bleeding or ulcers
    • Are also taking blood-thinners, steroids or certain other medications

    If you’re considering acetaminophen, commonly known by the brand name Tylenol, as an alternative to NSAIDs, know that acetaminophen can also cause severe liver damage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Like NSAIDs, it’s also in hundreds of other products, so as with all drugs, read medication ingredient labels to avoid taking too much of the same active ingredient and potentially overdosing.

    In general, always take the lowest effective dose for the shortest amount of time possible, and only after talking to your doctor if you already have high blood pressure or any other chronic condition.

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  • For Rural Patients, Opioid Treatment Centers Often Too Far Away

    Methadone is often used in the fight against opioid addiction, but long travel times in rural areas may be hampering efforts to get more people treated, a new study finds.

    If methadone for opioid addiction was available in primary care clinics, more people would have better access to treatment, researchers suggest.

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    In the United States, methadone is only available at clinics certified by the federal government as Opioid Treatment Programs, or OTPs. This restriction, along with state and local laws, limits the number of clinics that offer methadone for opioid addiction.

    For the study, researchers looked at drive times to OTPs in rural and urban counties in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. These states are among those hardest hit by the opioid epidemic.

    Drive time is important because methadone treatment requires six visits a week to an OTP, the study authors noted.

    Except in the largest cities, average drive times to OTPs were longer than to other clinics, the study found.

    The average drive time to a methadone clinic was 37 minutes, compared with 16 minutes to other medical clinics and 15 minutes to kidney dialysis centers. In rural areas, the drive time can be close to two hours, the researchers found.

    “This study makes clear how poorly accessible methadone is for rural communities harmed by the opioid epidemic,” study author Dr. Paul Joudrey, a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University, said in a university news release.

    Joudrey noted that another drug, buprenorphine, is used in primary care settings to treat opioid addiction, but it doesn’t help everyone. Addiction experts recommend that methadone should be available in all communities to improve health and reduce death among people who are addicted to opioids.

    The report was published Oct. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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  • Signs Your Back Pain Is Serious

    Signs Your Back Pain Is Serious

    We’ve all had back pain from time to time. Maybe we lifted luggage that was too heavy, held a baby for too long or carried a backpack overloaded with books.

    Some aches and pain here and there are normal—ones that tend to go away after you rest or exercise. But millions of Americans have ongoing back pain. It’s the leading cause of disability in people younger than 45, and many factors can cause it.

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    You shouldn’t be in severe and significant pain for a long time. So, how do you know if your back pain is serious? Read on to find out more.

    Here are a few signs that your back pain shouldn’t be taken lightly.

    1. You fell.
    Consider if you’ve had a serious trauma, such as you fell from a height or had a car accident. Even if you’ve had a minor trauma and are over 50, your health care professional will want to talk to you and examine your back pain. When you’re older, falling down even a few steps can cause a fracture. If there is no fracture, you may be told to manage your pain with medicine and physical therapy.

    2. You have an ongoing fever.
    A fever that isn’t responsive to medicine and is accompanied by back pain could be a sign of a serious infection. If it’s an infection, you may be prescribed antibiotics. You may be told to rest and then resume your daily activities once you feel better.

    3. You have tingling or numbness.
    Here, you have a pins-and-needles feeling in your back that won’t go away. It usually means that you have nerve damage or irritation, making it more significant than your typical back pain. You can experience permanent disabilities if you leave this condition untreated. Your health care professional can evaluate you and may order tests to get images of your spine. Treatment depends on your diagnosis.

    What is VCF?

    Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are the most common fractures in people with osteoporosis, a silent condition that weakens your bones and makes them more susceptible to fractures. VCFs affect about 750,000 people annually, says the National Osteoporosis Foundation. And they affect about one-quarter of postmenopausal women in the United States. The risk of this condition increases with age; about 40 percent of women age 80 and older are affected.

    VCFs happen when the bony block or vertebral body in the spine collapses. That can lead to severe pain, deformity and height loss. These fractures happen more commonly in the middle portion of the spine.

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    Most of the time, a VCF happens without an injury or pain. It can be caused by something as insignificant as a sneeze. One of the first signs of VCF is height loss. Think about whether your adult children seem taller. Do you need to hem pants you’ve worn for years? Are you suddenly unable to reach a shelf? These signs may mean you’ve experienced VCF.

    Risks if left untreated

    VCFs can be very painful. People who’ve had one VCF are at five times greater risk of having a second one. Risk for death goes up to more than 50 percent a year after a vertebral fracture.

    Each broken vertebra raises the risk for another since it changes how weight is balanced on the spine. You’ll experience pain in your back and chest as these muscles have to work more to hold you upright. It gets more difficult to walk. You develop stomach troubles and difficulty breathing. If you do nothing, you may experience disability.

    Complications related to VCF include:

    Segmental instability

    When a fracture leads to a vertebral body collapse of more than 50 percent, there is a risk of segmental instability. Because spinal segments work together, when one segment deteriorates or collapses, it can produce pain and impair daily activities. The instability eventually leads to a quicker degeneration of the spine in the affected area.

    Kyphosis

    Here, the front of the vertebrae will collapse and “wedge” because of a lack of normal vertebral space. Kyphosis leads to a more rounded thoracic spine, which may be referred to as hunchback or dowager’s hump.

    Neurological complications

    If the fracture causes part of the vertebral body to place pressure on the spinal cord, the nerves and spinal cord can be affected. The normal space between the spinal cord and beginning of the spinal canal can be decreased if pieces of the broken vertebral body push into the spinal canal.

    The narrowing of the spinal canal due to a VCF can injure the spinal nerves or cause problems later from nerve irritation. The lack of space can also lower the blood and oxygen supply to the spinal cord. This can lead to numbness and pain in the affected nerves. The nerves may lose some of their mobility when the space around them decreases, which can lead to nerve irritation and inflammation. Back pain isn’t par for the course as you get older. If you experience any back pain, make sure to speak with a health care professional about your symptoms.

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  • A Numb Arm Led to My Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis

    Have you ever slept in an odd position and when you woke up, your arm felt numb and you couldn’t lift it? Well that’s what happened to me a little more than five years ago. I went to bed feeling fine and when I woke up, I couldn’t lift my arm. Except for me, the feeling didn’t go away. My first thought was it must have something to do with the surgery I had years ago on my spine.

    Six years before the morning with my arm, I had been lifting boxes and woke up with a stiff neck. For more than a year, I felt pain on and off. I ended up getting an MRI and once I did, I was told I needed immediate surgery to remove herniated discs in my neck. So it made sense to me that maybe my arm numbness was related to my neck issue from years earlier.

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    I called my spine doctor and after completing a thorough exam, he told me that it was unrelated to my surgery and he thought I may have rheumatoid arthritis. I was in disbelief. I had felt fine the day before and I didn’t even feel bad the day of the appointment, other than the fact that I couldn’t lift my arm! My doctor drew all the bloodwork so he could verify the diagnosis and sent me home.

    A few days later, he called and told me my rheumatoid factor, an antibody found in the blood of most patients with rheumatoid arthritis, was off the charts. Normal is considered between 10 and 20 and mine was greater than 600! He suggested I visit a rheumatologist right away to get started on treatment.

    At this point, I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable and experiencing some pain. Feeling fortunate that I live in an area with great access to many specialists, I called around to get an appointment. Every doctor’s office I spoke with said they could see me in August or September. It was March! How was I going to live with this pain? How was I going to work? I am a single mom with a full-time job. I couldn’t wait 5 months! This was the beginning of realizing that I needed to advocate for myself and my care. I called my spine doctor back and he was able to get me in for an appointment. The rheumatologist started me on a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) and after a few adjustments, I began managing the medical aspect of my condition.

    What may have been even more difficult for me, however, was managing the emotional and mental aspects of being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at the age of 49. I started out doing exactly what you shouldn’t do—googling my condition. Everything I read made me feel hopeless. On top of that, I found that every thought I had focused on my condition. I would constantly question—should I be eating this? Should I be doing different exercises? Should I try this new vitamin or supplement? Every thought I had was about rheumatoid arthritis. I remember saying to my mom that I can’t wait for the day that I can say this disease is something I have, not something I am.

    I looked for a support group with people to connect but found nothing in my area. I found an organization called Arthritis Introspective (who have since merged with the Arthritis Foundation) and went through training to become a facilitator of my own support group. It started with me sitting in Wegman’s (my local grocery store) hoping for one person to show up and now, three years later, we have more than 100 people in our group. The connections within the group help me take power and control back into my own hands, while educating and learning to advocate for myself.

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    You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at me that I have rheumatoid arthritis. I work full-time, volunteer with the Arthritis Foundation, and am involved in my church. I spend time with family and friends and stay busy. Because of this, people often forget that I struggle at times. Some days I hurt more than others. Stress is a big factor in how I feel. And my flares tend to be different than other people. Rather than redness and pain in my joints, I feel extremely exhausted, like I’m coming down with the flu. If I’m very busy during the week, I need to take the weekend to recharge my battery. I no longer feel guilty if I stay in my pajamas or cancel plans. I’m constantly learning how to manage my time and my energy reserves.

    In the autoimmune world, you often hear about the spoon theory. You start out with a certain amount of spoons each morning and you have to think about how you’ll use your spoons. If you have 15 spoons, it may take one spoon to get out of bed, two spoons to take a shower, another spoon to dry your hair, four spoons to go to work, and so on. My spoons are not endless like maybe someone who is healthy. I’ve learned to manage my spoons. If I work late two nights in one week, I know that I will have no spoons left for the weekend to socialize. It’s a daily struggle to balance what I can and can’t do.

    I decided early on that I was not going to let this disease take over. I changed my diet, I found exercise that worked for me, and I found support. I am a platinum ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation, the leader of a top fundraising team for the Walk to Cure Arthritis, and the incoming board chair for our local leadership board. I tell people that the number one thing they need to do is to find their tribe and get connected. Not everyone in your tribe has to have arthritis, but they all have to understand that you are going to have bad days and good days. And your tribe should support you when you are struggling AND when you are celebrating!

    After five years, I can finally say that rheumatoid arthritis is something I have, not something I am.

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