The stress of the second wave of the pandemic is triggering fibromyalgia, a painful condition with no easy diagnosis, in many people. Dr Biswarup Sen, a joint replacement and orthopaedic specialist, has seen a 10-fold increase in the number of fibromyalgia cases since last year and expects the number to go up as the pandemic continues.
“Psychological stress that people experienced during the second wave, the deaths around them, economic uncertainty, it’s triggering this condition,” said Sen. Clinically, it means continuous body pain, especially around the shoulders and lower back. “In some patients the pain is debilitating, it can be as painful as a fracture. Patients’ sleep is grossly disturbed and so is their ability to work and concentrate,” added Sen who consults at Max hospital, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.