Connective Tissues of the Body and Fibromyalgia

This question came up recently after I became concerned when one of my long-ago patients who has fibromyalgia was MIA on the Internet, so I called to check in and hope everything was okay and it was a computer malfunction.  Nope, it was a hand malfunction -- seems she had injured her right wrist/hand/forearm in an interesting 'cumulative trauma' way. 

It seems it may have started with an incident of "protective extension" due to trying to do something that requires balance up at heights, something I naturally advised her against and brainstormed compensatory strategies about.  I chuckled last night when I had something happen in my house and climbed up on a stepladder myself, thinking about if there was another way to solve the problem that was safer for me.  Then the next component to her injury occurred when changing the filter in her countertop water filter.  I had to think "ironic how these things that we need to be healthy are not so well designed for the people who most need them".  Not too long after that, when picking something up when out in public at an eating establishment, she experienced a sudden and excruciating pain that made her kindof embarrass herself in public.  I've had that happen when my neck does 'it's thing' and glitches on me and pinches a nerve -- you sometimes cannot contain the shockwave of pain and neurological information that goes screaming through your body.  By the time I was able to visually see her arm most of the outward effects were gone, but she'd had something shift in her forearm so dramatically it had essentially caused redness and the feeling of having a bruise. 

And that is when I got the FIRST part of the story, because she didn't want the admonishment I'd give her -- perhaps in a teasing form because it was kind of a funny story, actually, of what occurred -- which included the original jamming or trauma from the avoided 'fall'.  Since she lives locally I suggested she look towards Bryce Christianson, DC, who is certified in ART/Active Release Technique® and who is a Grate Groove of the Grand Valley member as well as content contributor related to topics of interest to those on Lumigrate (he has a piece in the Fibromyalgia Forum, Fibromyalgia section about Active Release Technique and FMS, for instance.)  I also suggested that there might be something nutritionally or hormonally contributing to the connective tissue aspect of this, as this is so very common in people who have fibromyalgia to have lots of these types of things.  

I thought back to when I worked in the local outpatient clinic where I was primarily a neuro/head injury/FMS specialist and had a super amazingly talented COTA who had extensive hand therapy experience from 'another chapter of life' in California, and who had been certified previously in ART® of the upper extremity.  In the spring we would have an influx of worker's compensation patients who were what we affectionately called 'kitchen ladies'.  Typically of perimenopausal age and also active outdoors, they were simply putting too much wear and tear on the saddle joints at the base of their thumbs generally, with other factors with each one making them unique.  They also had adhesions in the tissues that were alleviated/remediated by ART, and with topical dexamethazone pushed with electrical current and a Santa Barbara Thumb Splint, they would be back in business!  And it wasn't just that employer, it just is one of the largest employers in our area so we had a lot from that vocation/school district; it was also florists.  I know people in the beauty industry also have a high incidence but they didn't have insurance often times so weren't a candidate for our insurance-based, allopathic, 'conventional medicine' business.  

Sometimes we'd have someone who, despite being compliant with everything we were providing them, they weren't getting requisite results.  I'd suggest they go talk with their physician as there was something systemically at play -- and they'd come back with a prescription for 800 mg of ibuprofen.  It sickened me because as an OTR I cannot give medical advise and everyone's time, money, energy was being wasted and most frustratingly, I saw the frustration and emotional pain our patients were suffering with.  It's part of the reason I opted to go the route of developing Lumigrate.com -- to pull together experts and resources for people which I can direct them to! 

So I threw this question out there to (Dr) Bryce Christianson and the registered pharmacists at ITC Pharmacy to get things started and naturally hope that others who have something to contribute will do so as well.   As I say, Lumigrate is about making things valid, progressive in a streamlined way -- many hands, light work! Each person doesn't have to provide a dissertation, just the nuts and bolt highlights and then also get enough references for additional information for learning MORE if that is desired.  And naturally, sprinking in some FUN along the way, as we ALL look forward to that!  

So here's the responses related to connective and soft tissues -- Thanks for those who come to Lumigrate to contribute content as well as those who come to read, listen to podcasts, watch videos -- we all need each other and together we can help each other get from where we are now to the better places we all envision and wish for, ourselves, our businesses, others and the well being of the nation and beyond.

Live and Learn.  Learn and Live Better!! ~~ Mardy