Could a sluggish thyroid be causing your pain?

Could a sluggish thyroid be causing your pain?

Does this sound like you?

I can’t bear it.
Help!
Doctors tell me it’s not my thyroid.
They say there is nothing more they can do.
They say it’s all in my head.

Thyroid hormones influence every cell and every metabolic process in the human body.

Muscle recovery, connective tissue repair, detoxification, digestion, elimination, and energy production all depend on thyroid hormones to work optimally. If your thyroid is under active, or if your cells have become resistant to thyroid hormone, these critical metabolic systems will become sluggish leaving you feeling fatigued, foggy headed and, yes, even in chronic pain.

After fatigue and difficulty losing weight, chronic muscle and joint pain is the next most common symptom my thyroid clients complain of.

Musculoskeletal symptoms associated with hypothyroidism

Researches have been aware of the connection between musculoskeletal pain and hypothyroidism since the 1800’s. A more recent study published in the Indian Journal of Rheumatology documented the likelihood of suffering with specific musculoskeletal conditions when also having primary hypothyroidism.

The study concluded that those with primary hypothyroidism were also likely to have:

• body aches and muscle pain (83.33%)
• muscle cramps and stiffness (83.33%)
• osteoarthritis (66.7%)
• mild inflammatory arthritis involving hand joints (50%)
• low back pain (50%)
• arthralgia (25%)
• adhesive capsulitis (20.8%)
• limited joint mobility (16.67%)
• rheumatoid arthritis (16.67%)
• myopathy (8.33%)
• systemic lupus erythematosus (8.33%)
• carpal tunnel syndrome (6.6%)
• fibromyalgia (5%)
• trigger finger (4.1%)
• Dupuytren’s contracture (3.33%)
• Raynaud’s phenomenon (1.66%)
• mixed connective tissue disease (1.66%)
• tarsal tunnel syndrome (1.6%)

Shoulder pain associated with hypothyroidism

The shoulder has a special connection to the thyroid gland. In the study of Applied Kinesiology, Dr. George Goodheart discovered that muscles are directly connected to specific organs or glands through a visceral-somatic (or organ-muscle) reflex. He found that when an organ or gland is under active, the muscle connected to this organ or gland would test weak. The thyroid gland is connected to one of the shoulder rotator cuff muscles called the teres minor muscle. This means that if your thyroid is not functioning optimally, you will have a weakness of your teres minor. This muscle is involved in external rotation of the shoulder. When evaluating my clients with hypothyroid symptoms, this muscle often tests weak, resulting in a forward rounding shoulder posture. Weakness of the teres minor and the resulting postural changes often result in tears of the other rotator cuff muscles, adhesive capsulitis (aka frozen shoulder), carpel tunnel syndrome and numbness and tingling of the hands. These conditions are all extremely common, and…

improving thyroid health can result in profound improvements in these symptoms even when nothing else has helped.

The connection between musculoskeletal disorders and hypothyroidism is significant. Comprehensive thyroid testing including thyroid antibodies should be part of the workup of all patient presenting with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Chronic unresolved musculoskeletal symptoms can serve as early signs of undiagnosed hypothyroidism or warning signs that hypothyroidism is not being managed optimally.

Your pain is NOT in your head!