For women with fibromyalgia, even common tasks like cleaning the house or putting on socks can hurt. We’ve rounded up 14 tools to ease discomfort throughout your day...
Fibromyalgia can make the simplest activities painful and difficult.
A chronic condition that affects 2% of Americans, especially women, fibromyalgia is associated with muscle aches, fatigue and tender points throughout the body. At its worst, it can make chores you once took for granted suddenly seem daunting.
Fortunately, we found an array of tools to ease discomfort and lessen the burden on sore muscles. They range from pain-reducing massagers and electronic stimulators to movement-saving gadgets designed to make ordinary tasks more manageable.
We consulted physical therapist Cathy Guenthner, clinical educator at the University of Cincinnati, for the products listed below.
“They help conserve energy, so you can function without putting additional strain on your body,” she says.
We’ve suggested sources for each of the products mentioned below, but many can also be purchased from Amazon.com or local drugstores, home stores and medical-supply shops.
1. Thera Cane
What it is: This therapeutic self-massager helps you apply pressure to trigger points, knotted muscle fibers that can increase chronic pain.
Why it helps: The oddly shaped device, which resembles a wide cane with short, ball-capped branches, allows you to reach trigger points anywhere on your body.
“A trigger point is an area of hyperirritability in a muscle, common in people with fibromyalgia,” Guenthner says. “You can push the little balls on the trigger point and hold the pressure for 30-90 seconds until you feel the tension release.”
Try it: www.theracane.com
2. Handball
What it is: A regular handball, which you can buy in a sporting-goods store, provides another easy way to apply pressure to painful trigger points.
Why it helps: It’s portable and convenient. Guenthner suggests lying down, placing the ball under an irritable spot, and your body weight to apply pressure for 30-90 seconds, until you feel the trigger point release.
Try it: Official “ACE” USHA handballs, www.ushandball.org
3. Moist heating pad
What it is: A pad that relaxes your muscles with soothing heat.
Moist heating pads come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including rectangular ones for your back or oblong wraps for neck and shoulders. You can also get moist wraps for knees, ankles and elbows, and moist booties and mittens for aching feet and hands.
Electric versions heat automatically; non-electric pads have sponge liners that you wet and then heat in a microwave.
Why it helps: “Heat relaxes muscles, and moisture reduces the skin’s natural resistance to [absorbing] heat,” says Scott Glaser, M.D., an interventional pain physician in Chicago.
But be careful. “If you overuse heat, you can have permanent discoloration from increased blood flow to the skin,” Glaser says. Apply the pad to a painful spot on low heat for no more than 20 minutes at a time.
These pads can help before stretching painful muscles, observes Shannon Rock, an occupational therapist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “Moist heat increases blood flow to the area, which helps prepare the tissue for stretching,” she says.
Try it: Medibeads Neck Wrap, www.aidsforarthritis.com
4. Ice pad
What it is: Another form of temperature therapy. Like heating pads, ice pads come in many shapes, including rectangles, cervical collars and shoulder, leg and foot wraps.
Why it helps: “Ice is a great aid in controlling pain in a localized area,” Glaser says. “The signals of cold from your temperature receptors crowd out pain signals.”
Apply ice for no more than 20-30 minutes at a stretch, several times a day.
Try it: Elasto-Gel Cervical Collar Wrap, www.icewraps.net
5. TENS unit
What it is: Short for “transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation,” it’s a device that sends harmless electrical current to sore spots.
Why it helps: “Sensations from the current crowd out input from the pain nerves,” Glaser says.
A physical therapist can recommend a home unit and teach you how to use it correctly.
Try it: LGMedSupply LG-3000 Basic TENS Unit with 3 Treatment Modes, www.lgmedsupply.com
6. Knee and head pillow
What it is: Specially curved neck-support pillows and leg wedge pillows.
Why it helps: If you’re lying on your side, placing a pillow between knees keeps legs separated, allowing the spine to stay in a more neutral, comfortable position, Guenthner says. The same is true if you’re lying on your back and place a pillow under the knees.
“It allows the joint to bend a little,” Guenthner says. “When the joint is fully extended, it puts more pressure on the joint and muscles, which increases pain.”
Try it: Knee Lift Pillow; Leg Separator Pillow; Better Neck Adjustable Memory Foam Cervical Pillow; all at makemeheal.com. While specialty pillows may be more comfortable, you can use any bed pillow, Guenthner says.
7. Lumbar support pillow
What it is: A pillow that supports your lower back when you sit.
Why it helps: “It keeps you in good spinal alignment [when you’re seated], so your back isn't too bent or arched, and your shoulders are directly over your hips,” Guenthner says. “If you slump, you put more strain on your muscles and body, which adds to muscle irritation.”
Try it: Biform Pad Lumbar Back Support Pillow, www.makemeheal.com
8. Wrist rest
What it is: A gel keyboard pad that supports the wrists.
Why it helps: If you’ve got fibromyalgia, even your wrist and arm muscles can hurt.
“Fibromyalgia patients have a higher rate of carpel tunnel syndrome,” a painful nerve condition involving tingling and numbness in the hands and wrist, usually the result of repetitive movements, says Glaser.
"A gel keyboard pad keeps wrists in a neutral position, which rests the muscles and tendons in the forearm [that extend] to the hand,” Rock says.
Try it: 3M Gel Wrist Rest for Keyboard, solutions.3m.com
9. Lumbar support belt
What it is: A wide belt that stabilizes the spine.
Why it helps: It improves posture, protects your back, and allows knees and hips to do most of the work when lifting something.
These belts can reduce back pain in people with fibromyalgia, Glaser says. But he advises wearing one no more than half the time you’re active to prevent spine muscles from weakening.
Try it: Jobri A0220X-Action Belt Lower Back Lumbar Support, www.jobri.com
10. Shower bench
What it is: A plastic bench with an arm handle and back that allows you to sit in the shower.
Why it helps: “People with fibromyalgia have fatigue and muscle aches,” Rock says. “A shower bench [conserves] energy. If you have back or leg pain, it helps to be sitting rather than standing.”
Try it: Medline Transfer Bench, www.amazon.com
11. Elevated toilet seat
What it is: This seat clamps onto your regular toilet seat, lifting you about 6 inches higher than normal. Some models also have arms you can hold on to.
Why it helps: The raised seat saves energy if you have pain in your legs.
“It definitely makes it easier to get up and down,” Guenthner says.
Try it: Medline Locking Elevated Toilet Seat With Arms, www.amazon.com
12. Sock puller
What it is: This strange-looking contraption makes it easy to put on socks without bending over. You slip a sock over it, put your foot inside and pull on the long straps.
Why it helps: “By using it, you prevent lumbar or hand strain,” Guenthner says.
Try it: Deluxe Sock Aid, Kat Health Products, www.homehealthitems.com
13. Automatic can opener
What it is: This egg-shaped beauty is fully automated – you don’t even have to hold the can. You place the gadget on a can, press a button, and the can opens. A magnet on the bottom lifts up the can’s lid.
Why it helps: “Any electric device – food choppers, jar openers, knives – helps protect the joints and conserve energy,” Rock says.
Try it: One Touch Can Opener, www.aidsforarthritis.com
14. Long-handled dustpan and broom
What it is: A lightweight dustpan and broom with oversize handles.
Why it helps: These long tools allow you to clean up a spill without squatting or bending over.
Try it: Long Handled Dust Pan and Broom, www.aidsforarthritis.com
How Much Do You Know About Fibromyalgia?
Described by Hippocrates in ancient Greece, fibromyalgia is one of the world’s oldest medical mysteries. The disease – a complex illness marked by chronic muscle, tendon and ligament pain, fatigue and multiple tender points on the body – affects about 2% percent of Americans, most of them women.
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