Early signs are easy to miss
Early signs are easy to miss
MSc. Truong Hoang Huy, Trauma Orthopedic Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City said that many patients come to the examination center with symptoms of dull pain, neck and shoulder pain and diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is a very common condition (approximately 2% of the population) and is 7 times more common in women than in men. Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 60.
“Most patients only feel slight aches and pains, transient and recover after a good night’s sleep. After a long time, the pain develops in the form of stinging or numbness, aches and pains spread to an area of tendons and muscles, pressing some points feels uncomfortable. The pain usually occurs in the back of the head, runs down the neck, spreads to the shoulder, down the chest, over time can cause muscle weakness, muscle atrophy.“, BS Huy said.
According to Dr. Huy, this has a profound effect on the patient’s work, daily life, and even psychology. Typically, many people are susceptible to symptoms of psychological disorders such as depression, insomnia, stress. This is also the reason that during treatment, patients can be prescribed antidepressants depending on the level of depression.
In addition to muscle pain, patients may suffer from a number of other symptoms such as headache (>50%), TMJ, irritable bowel syndrome, restless legs syndrome…
Causes of fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is thought to be a sensitive, central nervous system-related disease. The cause is unknown, but stress and sleep disturbances after illnesses such as infections and viruses are thought to contribute to the disease. Many post-Covid-19 patients also develop symptoms of fibromyalgia.
People with chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis… are also prone to fibromyalgia.
Other causes are lifestyle and industrial activities, working for 8 hours or more, less changing working posture and constriction that causes muscles (usually muscles in the neck, shoulders, back, and back) to become weak. abuse for a long time.
As a result, after many months and years, these muscle areas become ischemic and fibrosis. Fibrosis causes muscles to lose their flexibility, more easily feel pain, that’s why doctors often borrow images of young melons and loofahs to explain to patients about this disease.
Due to the working environment and nature of work, office workers are often susceptible to this disease.
In newly infected people, when pressing on these points, there will be an uncomfortable sharp pain. As for chronic patients, although they feel pain, they like to be massaged and pressed firmly here.
How to improve when there are signs of illness
To make a diagnosis, the doctor will ask about the status and progression of symptoms, combined with palpation to find localized pain points. Some common laboratory tests are X-ray, ultrasound, electromyography, blood test.
Although symptoms cause a lot of discomfort, even severe, most patients have no physical damage (tests do not show any special results). However, because the disease usually progresses after the age of 30, it is also the time when signs of degenerative disease and peripheral nerve damage begin to appear. If not carefully examined and consulted, patients often mistakenly assume that they have problems related to degeneration or herniation of the cervical spine, lumbar spine.
Doctor Truong Hoang Huy affirmed that it is the “industrial” lifestyle and activities that cause muscles to be abused for a long time. Photo: BVCC.
The treatment of musculoskeletal pain remains a challenge. The disease tends to progress to chronic disease, there are periods of remission, but it is easy to recur and become more severe.
The principle of disease treatment must first stabilize existing medical problems (if any) such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, infection…
Pain relievers are usually prescribed for a period of time to ease the pain early.
Psychotherapy is very effective, especially for patients in the early stages. This helps patients recognize, manage and eliminate stress, thereby improving quality of life and sleep. Antidepressants may be considered.
Image illustrates the pose to help stretch the shoulder and lumbar muscle groups (note that the patient should be guided by an experienced technician).
Finally, for the best and long-lasting results, patients need to be clearly counseled and directed to a healthy lifestyle, minimizing stress; participate and maintain good habits such as sports (yoga, aerobics, swimming…), focus on exercises to help stretch the painful muscle group, when exercising, try to maintain the minimum stretching posture. 30 seconds and repeat several times.
Improving sleep quality is also important. Getting enough sleep, deep sleep without dreams will help the body recover well, reducing the risk of recurrence.
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at Blogtuan.info – Source: cafebiz.vn – Read the original article here
