Comprehensive Analysis: Treatment Approaches for Fibromyalgia Report

This report delves into the treatment and management of fibromyalgia, a chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterized by fatigue, pain, and mood issues. The report utilizes the Gibbs reflective model to analyze experiences and learnings related to physiotherapy practices. It covers the description of a patient case, the physiotherapist's feelings, evaluation of treatment methods, and the formulation of an action plan. The report emphasizes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, including shock wave therapy and acupuncture, while also considering the importance of stress management. The SWOT analysis provides a deeper understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with fibromyalgia treatment. The report also highlights the significance of early diagnosis and the impact of fibromyalgia on the patient's overall well-being.

Treatment of fibromyalgia

Contents
INTRODUCTION (250 words) ......................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
Gibbs' reflective model....................................................................................................................1
Description (500 words)..............................................................................................................2
Feelings (750 words)....................................................................................................................4
Evaluation (750 words)................................................................................................................4
Conclusion (500 words)...............................................................................................................4
Action plan (500 words)..............................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION (250 words)...........................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
SWOT ANALYSIS (500 WORDS)................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION (250 words)
Fibromyalgia is a chronic musculoskeletal disorder which is characterized by fatigue,
sleep and mood issues. The painful sensations that arise reach the brain and spinal cord for
amplification. Some of the most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are muscle pain and
extreme tenderness. The main cause of occurrence of fibromyalgia is due to improper sleep,
improper diet, imbalance of the hormones, stress and changes in medications. There is not a
occurrence of any single triggering event before the symptoms start to appear. There is a high
chance of development of fibromyalgia in women compared to men. The root cause of
fibromyalgia is physical or emotional stress that can possibly acts as a trigger. There is a
possibility that fibromyalgia flare ups can cause worsening of symptoms, these flare ups can be
caused by lack of sleep or by intense workouts. The treatment of fibromyalgia involves both
pharmacological and non pharmacological approaches to optimise the overall health of the
individual (Coskun Benlidayi, 2019). Stress management therapies along with use of first line
medication treatment methods are employed in treatment of this physiological disorder of the
muscles and bones. If left untreated fibromyalgia causes chronic pain and headaches over a
period of time which cause mental health conditions. This report highlights a critical reflection of
management in treatment of fibromyalgia in patients. The discussion also revolves around the
analysis of different activities that are undertaken for the reflective practice.
MAIN BODY
The demonstration of critique of the learnings along with specialist professional practice
is performed by Gibbs reflective model that will enable the professionals to use different
theoretical theories for effective learning and reflective practices. Gibbs cycle helps creates a
structured debriefing that help in supporting experiences learning. The reflection cycle starts at
description of the situation followed by feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and
summarises at action plan which returns back to description.
Gibbs' reflective model
The Gibbs's reflective model is a reflective management tool that enables people to
systematically think about different experiences that they have experienced in their lifetime to be
able to draw conclusions (Markkanen, Välimäki, Anttila and Kuuskorpi, 2020). The Gibbs model
is used to describe the different stages of situations that people learned from their experiences.
1

Description (500 words)
Based on my experiences gained from physiotherapy trainings this research paper focuses
on the ongoing efforts towards the development in fields of treatment and management if
fibromyalgia. The nature of this paper is reflective and it has helped me develop my skills about
knowledge of fibromyalgia (Fitzcharles, Perrot and Häuser, 2018). Research cannot be
performed with absence of knowledge and therefore, it is necessary to have information about all
the diagnosis of the patient before performing any diagnostic tests. During my shift hours, I came
across a patient that reported signs of fatigue, sleeplessness, lack of energy, some symptoms of
depression along with muscle twitches and cramps. I believed that I was ware about some
pathophysiology of the muscles because of which I ran some tests such as pressing specific
points firmly to check if the patient is experiencing pain. I made sure to conduct other tests to
rule out possibility of other diseases. These tests included CBC, erythrocyte sedimentation rate
and test of the rheumatoid factor for making more accurate diagnosis for the patient (Ma and et.
al., 2022). The patient also reported that there was a constant dull pain that lasted for more then
three months. These signs and symptoms of made me conclude that the patient was suffering
from primary symptoms of fibromyalgia. I asked the patient a range of questions based on their
past medication history and their current medications. After completion of the questionnaire, I
tested the patient's movement and strength and discussed their condition with the patient.
Further, I ensured conduction of imaging investigations for aid in determining the best
management for fibromyalgia. The best management based on my experience as a
physiotherapist is shock wave and traditional physiotherapy protocol (Creed, 2020). In recent
times, shock wave therapy has been proven to successfully treat tenderness and muscle fatigue in
skeletal muscles. However, traditional methods of physiology are also beneficial in treatment of
muscle pain. Therefore, I will be explaining the patient about the different methods through
which they can get rid of this pain. The use of shock waves has proven to be successful to
alleviating fibromyalgia pain. The effect of shock wave therapy lasts for about 2 years and can
be opted for long term benefit. However, according to my knowledge, the most beneficial
therapy involves acupuncture as it is one of the oldest methods for relieving the symptoms of
fibromyalgia. Different manipulative techniques are used in massage therapy to help easy
movement of muscles and soft tissues (Martínez-Lavín, 2018). According to my experience in
training, the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave treatment have reported promising results for
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muscular disorders. During fibromyalgia, any sort of muscular injury causes dysfunction of
neuromuscular end-plate, this promotes the release of Acetylcholine in the synaptic gap of the
neurons. This leads to depolarisation of the neurons which reduces locomotion of the muscles
(Galvez-Sánchez and et. al., 2020).
3

Feelings (750 words)
Evaluation (750 words)
Conclusion (500 words)
Action plan (500 words)
CONCLUSION (250 words)
4

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Coskun Benlidayi, I., 2019. Role of inflammation in the pathogenesis and treatment of
fibromyalgia. Rheumatology international, 39(5), pp.781-791.
Creed, F., 2020. A review of the incidence and risk factors for fibromyalgia and chronic
widespread pain in population-based studies. Pain, 161(6), pp.1169-1176.
Fitzcharles, M.A., Perrot, S. and Häuser, W., 2018. Comorbid fibromyalgia: A qualitative review
of prevalence and importance. European Journal of Pain, 22(9), pp.1565-1576.
Galvez-Sánchez, C.M., Montoro, C.I., Duschek, S. and Del Paso, G.A.R., 2020. Depression and
trait-anxiety mediate the influence of clinical pain on health-related quality of life in
fibromyalgia. Journal of affective disorders, 265, pp.486-495.
Ma and et. al., 2022. Fibromyalgia and periodontitis: bidirectional associations in population‐
based 15‐year retrospective cohorts. Journal of Periodontology, 93(6), pp.877-887.
Markkanen, P., Välimäki, M., Anttila, M. and Kuuskorpi, M., 2020. A reflective cycle:
Understanding challenging situations in a school setting. Educational Research, 62(1),
pp.46-62.
Martínez-Lavín, M., 2018. Fibromyalgia and small fiber neuropathy: the plot thickens!. Clinical
rheumatology, 37(12), pp.3167-3171.
SWOT ANALYSIS (500 WORDS)
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