If you've searched Google for private medical insurance that covers fibromyalgia then you are probably for looking for established UK based health insurance providers that can cover your fibromyalgia.
Our advice when looking for private medical insurance that covers fibromyalgia is to speak to a insurance broker. Health insurance is incredibly complicated and if you want absolute certainty that fibromyalgia is covered by your policy you should talk with a medical insurance broker who can explain which providers will cover this medical condition and which will exclude it.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the largest by far is that you're using their expertise at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than by you so it costs you no extra to use their services.
- Do you live in many different postcodes? Some will give you a lower policy premium than offers. A broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance policy? A broker will know this vital information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your insurance policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different insurance policies?
- You've developed a certain medical condition and want to know which insurer offers the largest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you huge amounts of time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider you can find and ask if they cover fibromyalgia, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one medical insurance broker which will know which policy providers on the market cover fibromyalgia and under what conditions they do or don't cover it.
Fibromyalgia Information
Fibromyalgia, also called fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), is a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body.
As well as widespread pain, people with fibromyalgia may also have:
If you think you have fibromyalgia, visit your GP. Treatment is available to ease some of its symptoms, although they're unlikely to disappear completely.
Read more about the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, but it's thought to be related to abnormal levels of certain chemicals in the brain and changes in the way the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) processes pain messages carried around the body.
It's also suggested that some people are more likely to develop fibromyalgia because of genes inherited from their parents.
In many cases, the condition appears to be triggered by a physically or emotionally stressful event, such as:
Read more about the causes of fibromyalgia.
Anyone can develop fibromyalgia, although it affects around seven times as many women as men. The condition typically develops between the ages of 30 and 50, but can occur in people of any age, including children and the elderly.
It's not clear exactly how many people are affected by fibromyalgia, although research has suggested it could be a relatively common condition. Some estimates suggest nearly 1 in 20 people may be affected by fibromyalgia to some degree.
One of the main reasons it's not clear how many people are affected is because fibromyalgia can be a difficult condition to diagnose. There's no specific test for the condition, and the symptoms can be similar to a number of other conditions.
Read more about diagnosing fibromyalgia.
Although there's currently no cure for fibromyalgia, there are treatments to help relieve some of the symptoms and make the condition easier to live with.
Treatment tends to be a combination of:
Exercise in particular has been found to have a number of important benefits for people with fibromyalgia, including helping to reduce pain.