You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Rehabilitation medicine
Onset of chronic pain triggered by a lifestyle-change-based weight loss and exercise regimen
  1. Lily Dawn Hopkinson1,
  2. Samira Jafari2,3,
  3. Elvin Frempong3 and
  4. Saman Zarghom3,4
  1. 1Human Health and Nutritional Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3Toronto Interventional Pain Specialists, Toronto Interventional Pain Clinic, Concord, Ontario, Canada
  4. 4University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Saman Zarghom; saman.zarghom{at}utoronto.ca

Abstract

Exercise and weight loss are commonly recommended to patients with chronic pain; these interventions can relieve extra stress on the joints, reduce the perception of pain and combat comorbidities such as obesity, anxiety and depression. However, exercise can also exacerbate existing pain, presenting challenges for adherence to exercise and weight loss regimens. Here, we summarise the unique case of a patient who presented with chronic pain that developed during a natural weight loss regimen. The patient sought assessment due to diffuse pain that commenced after significant weight loss and was exacerbated with continued adherence to lifestyle modifications. He received a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and is currently being treated with nerve blocks and local anaesthetic injections of trigger points. This case of onset of fibromyalgia and chronic pain following lifestyle changes and weight loss underscores the need for further research aiming to understand the complex relationship between exercise, weight loss and chronic pain.

  • Pain
  • Anaesthesia
  • Fibromyalgia

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2024-263172

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors LDH, EF and SZ were involved in clinical care of the patient. LH, SJ, EF and SZ conceptualised the work, conducted background research, drafted the text and performed critical revision of the work. SZ acted as guarantor.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.