Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition of widespread body pain, usually alongside fatigue, disturbed sleep and difficulty concentrating. At Modern Physio we focus on understanding the root-cause of your problem & personalizing your treatment for lasting results.
Understanding Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition of widespread body pain, usually alongside fatigue, disturbed sleep and difficulty concentrating. It is a real condition with a recognised diagnosis, not a diagnosis of exclusion made when tests come back normal — and normal blood tests and scans are exactly what most people with fibromyalgia have. Physiotherapy does not cure fibromyalgia. What it can do, and what the evidence supports, is help you build activity tolerance gradually so that daily life expands rather than contracts. At Modern Physio in Jaipur, treatment is built around pacing, graded exercise and understanding your own flare pattern, rather than passive treatment that leaves you dependent on the clinic.
Common Symptoms
- Widespread pain lasting three months or longer, often described as aching or burning
- Marked fatigue that is not relieved by rest
- Unrefreshing sleep — waking as tired as when you went to bed
- Difficulty with memory and concentration
- Increased sensitivity to pressure, temperature or noise
- Morning stiffness
- Headaches
- Symptoms that fluctuate, with better and worse periods
How Common Is It?
Fibromyalgia is one of the more common causes of chronic widespread pain and is diagnosed more often in women than in men, though it occurs in both. It can begin at any age. Because its symptoms overlap with several other conditions, it is frequently recognised only after a long period of unexplained pain.
Causes & Risk Factors
- Altered pain processing in the nervous system, so ordinary signals are experienced as painful
- Disturbed sleep, which both worsens and is worsened by pain
- Physical or emotional stress as a trigger in some people
- Onset after an illness, injury or surgery in some cases
- A family history, suggesting an inherited component
- Deconditioning from reduced activity, which compounds the original problem
Our Diagnosis Process
- A detailed history of where the pain is, how long it has been there, and how it varies through the day and week
- Discussion of sleep, fatigue and concentration, because these are part of the condition rather than side issues
- Physical assessment of movement, strength and tolerance to activity
- Identifying your current baseline — the amount of activity you can do without triggering a flare
- Screening for the red flags below, and referral where a medical opinion is needed first
Our Treatment Approach
- Education about how persistent pain works — this is treatment, not a preamble to it, and changes how the rest of the plan lands
- Pacing: finding a sustainable activity baseline and increasing from there, instead of the boom-and-bust cycle of overdoing it on good days
- Graded exercise, starting well within tolerance and progressing slowly — the intervention with the strongest evidence behind it
- Sleep-aware planning, since improving sleep tends to improve pain more reliably than treating the pain alone
- Manual therapy and heat as short-term adjuncts to make movement possible, never as the whole plan
- A written home programme built around the time and energy you actually have
Recovery & Prevention Tips
- Increase activity by small increments and hold each level until it feels routine before adding more
- Plan rest before you need it rather than after a flare has started
- Keep some movement going on bad days, even if much less than usual — complete rest tends to lengthen flares
- Treat sleep as part of the treatment: consistent times, and a wind-down that does not involve a screen
- Expect fluctuation. A worse week is part of the pattern, not evidence that the plan has failed
Products That Can Help
Supports and equipment we fit at the clinic that patients with this condition commonly use alongside treatment — never instead of it.
Evidence & Sources
Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain with fatigue and unrefreshing sleep, and management centres on gradually increased activity alongside medical care.
NHS — FibromyalgiaRegular physical activity is recommended for long-term health and is built into chronic pain management as tolerated.
NHS — ExerciseFrequently Asked Questions
Can physiotherapy cure fibromyalgia?
No, and any clinic that tells you otherwise is not being straight with you. Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition. What physiotherapy can do is increase what you are able to do without triggering a flare, and give you a way of managing the fluctuations. For many people that is a substantial change in daily life.
Will exercise make my pain worse?
Started at the wrong level, it can. That is why the first sessions are spent finding your actual baseline rather than prescribing a standard programme. Progress is deliberately slow — the aim is to increase capacity without provoking a flare, and that means beginning at a level that may feel too easy.
My blood tests and scans were normal. Does that mean nothing is wrong?
No. Normal investigations are typical in fibromyalgia; the problem is in how pain signals are processed, which does not show up on a scan. Normal tests are useful — they rule out other causes — but they do not mean the pain is imagined.
Do I need to stop my medication?
That is a decision for the doctor who prescribed it. Physiotherapy works alongside medical management, not instead of it. Dr. Surabhi Bansal is a physiotherapist, not a physician: the clinic does not prescribe medication and has no imaging on site. Where medication review, investigation or a specialist opinion is the right next step, you will be told so and referred.
How often would I need to attend the clinic in Jaipur?
Most of the programme is done at home. Clinic visits are for assessment, teaching technique, and reviewing progress so the next step is set at the right level. Frequency is agreed after the first assessment. Modern Physio is open seven days a week, 7:00 am–1:00 pm and 4:00 pm–9:00 pm.
Medically Reviewed
This content was reviewed for medical accuracy by Dr. Surabhi Bansal, BPT, MPT (Ortho) with 14+ years of clinical experience.
At Modern Physio, all medical content undergoes a thorough review process to ensure accuracy and alignment with current physiotherapy standards. Our content is created to educate and should not replace professional medical advice. Learn more about our review process.
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Assessment & Education
Detailed assessment, a working explanation in plain language, and a plan you agree to.
Exercise Therapy
Graded, progressive loading — the core of evidence-based chronic pain care.
Manual Therapy
Hands-on joint and soft-tissue techniques to reduce pain and restore movement.
Home Physiotherapy
Treatment at home in Jaipur where travelling to the clinic is difficult.
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