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Fibromyalgia swelling makes life difficult for a lot of sufferers. The pain and discomfort make daily tasks a challenge. Putting on shoes, or picking out an outfit, or even just getting around is harder with painful swelling in your hands or feet. But what causes the swelling? And how can you treat it?
What is fibromyalgia swelling?
Fibromyalgia often causes swelling in sufferers. Swelling, or edema, is a medical condition where fluid builds up underneath the skin. Edema is usually the result of injury, but with fibromyalgia, there is usually no obvious cause behind the swelling.
Now, this swelling usually happens in the hands and feet. But this fact often causes people to confuse fibromyalgia with arthritis, which also affects the hands and feet. And that sometimes makes treatment difficult. That’s because doctors may confuse your fibromyalgia pain with another condition. So, make sure that your doctor knows you have fibromyalgia.
In addition, fibromyalgia sufferers sometimes feel like their joints are swelling when they are not. It is part of the generalized, uncomfortable symptoms that fibromyalgia causes. And it makes treatment even more difficult since there are no physical symptoms.
What causes fibromyalgia swelling?
Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition, which means it affects joints and other nerve endings. No one knows how or why fibromyalgia targets nerve endings. But the overactivity in the nervous system causes joints to become inflamed.
Fibromyalgia is believed by many doctors to be a condition that causes your body’s immune system to over react. And in the same way that an allergic reaction can cause inflammation in the joints or face, your body’s immune response may be the cause of fibromyalgia swelling. That suggests that fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disorder, but again, there is no scientific agreement on that issue.
What can I do to treat fibromyalgia swelling?
There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia. That means that treatments for fibromyalgia swelling involve easing the discomfort instead of treating the underlying cause. Until a cure is developed, most treatments will simply involve reducing the swelling and managing the pain so you can continue to live an active life.
There are a few things you can do to limit the swelling caused by fibromyalgia. First, try to move the fluid away from the affected areas. Raise your hands over your head or put your feet up against a wall. Raising the affected limbs over your head will cause the fluid to drain away from the temporarily.
Ice can sometimes help reduce the amount of swelling. Anyone who has ever had a busted lip or black eye knows that an ice pack can help reduce the swelling around the injured skin. Ice causes the water in your cells to contract, which reduces swelling. And in addition, it can help alleviate the pain.
Finally, your diet can play a big role in limiting how much fibromyalgia swelling you experience. High sodium levels often cause your body to retain water, which makes swelling more severe. Try removing sodium from your diet and see if your fibromyalgia swelling becomes more manageable.
Vitamin B-6 is another nutrient you should think about when dealing with fibromyalgia swelling. Vitamin B-6 can help regulate fluid build up in your body. So a daily vitamin supplement can help you limit the swelling associated with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia swelling is another one of the many uncomfortable symptoms that make fibromyalgia such a difficult disease to live with. But with some careful monitoring of your diet, and some basic home remedies, you can reduce the amount of fibromyalgia swelling you have to live with.
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