Chronic fatigue syndrome
One condition that often presents with a range of chronic pain symptoms is chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or myalgic encephalopathy (ME), which affects at least one per cent of British secondary pupils.
According to a 2015 study of children and adolescents in the UK and the Netherlands, around three quarters of those with these conditions complain of muscle pains and/or headaches while well over half report sore throats, joint pains and/or long-lasting flu-like symptoms.
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The children’s CFS/ME service at Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Trust uses a range of techniques to help patients recover, including activity management, cognitive behaviour therapy and graded exercise therapy. The overall aim being to enable children to manage and control their pain.
‘We don’t promise to eliminate the pain but with specialist support it’s important to try to help the patient reach their goals and regain the social activities they were doing before,’ says specialist paediatric physiotherapist Joanne Bond-Kendall. ‘It’s about acknowledging what they’re feeling and then deciding jointly with the young person and parent or carer what the main problems are and then it’s how you design your treatment programme.’
It seems likely that physiotherapists will increasingly encounter children with CFS. Ms Bond-Kendall is particularly concerned about community physios who may be managing these patients in relative isolation. She urges physios to talk to colleagues and ask for advice where needed. Bath’s CFS/ME service is happy to provide help and support (
ruh-tr.paedscfsme@nhs.net).
