Fibromyalgia and OT As we learn more about fibromyalgia, we find new ways to treat it - could occupational therapy be one?
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ibromyalgia is considered to be a medically unexplained syndrome because of its poorly understood nature. This is frustrating for both the patient and caregiver: from the patient’s perspective, people may assume they are inventing the symptoms that they experience, and that they’re all made up, exaggerated, or psychosomatic. From the medical professional’s point of view, it can become a series of trials and errors to find the best way to treat patients, which can become frustrating as you just want to help your patient. Characterised by chronic pain, stiffness and tenderness of the muscles, tendons and joints without the presence of detectable inflammation, fibromyalgia is considered a syndrome with a complex series of factors, each of which can vary in their effect on the client and their daily life. Patients frequently describe what feels like aching or burning pain in their muscles, visual problems, physical and mental fatigue (the latter often called brain fog), and stiffness in the morning. A host of other symptoms can be present, including headaches, IBS, memory problems, parenthesis, hypersensitivity, Raynaud’s phenomenon, and disturbed sleep, to name but a few. Because of this,
...it can become a series of trials and errors to find the best way to treat patients, which can become frustrating as you just want to help your patient
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there is also significant likelihood that clients will present with co-morbitidies, including depression, anxiety, and rheumatoid arthritis. Living with the above symptoms sounds very much like a job for an occupational therapist, and some research has shown that assessment and intervention from an occupational therapist might provide patients with the tools they need to continue completing their ADLs and functioning independently while living with their chronic pain. A study undertaken by Poole et al in 2018 and published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy focused on a 37-year-old school teacher who was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia after experiencing pain all over her body while training for a 5k, when she was taken to hospital. It was in this setting that she met an occupational therapist who focused on establishing client-identified problems and goal setting. After evaluating her using the Canadian Occupational
