Fibromyalgia

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The word fibromyalgia can be broken down into 3 parts- “fibro” meaning fibrous tissue, “my” meaning muscle, and “algia” meaning pain. This breakdown of the word correlates well with the meaning of the disorder. Fibromyalgia is characterized as a disorder that causes widespread body pain and tenderness. Fibromyalgia has also been described as widespread pain amplification. When most individuals experience an injury, they have normal pain signals that make the injury feel as it would be expected. With fibromyalgia, the normal pain signal is amplified causing a more widespread and higher than expected pain throughout the body. While approximately 2 million adults suffer from fibromyalgia, there are still many aspects about it that are misunderstood. Over the years, there have been disputes over how the disorder is diagnosed, if it’s a real diagnosis, and what can be done to help those who suffer.

Fibromyalgia can be hard to diagnose because there is not one test that has a marker for the disorder. Practitioners used to diagnose fibromyalgia by finding 11 out of 18 specific tender points on the body, but this method is no longer used based on the reliability of the exam. In order to be diagnosed in present day, a physician typically will use your medical history, imaging, physical exam, and some blood testing. Oftentimes in the history of a fibromyalgia patient, they will experience tiredness, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, depression, head fog, increased pain, and headaches.

While there is currently no known cause of fibromyalgia, it is thought that it could be both environmental and genetic. There are some risk factors that are commonly seen with fibromyalgia patients. Fibromyalgia is more commonly seen amongst females. Fibromyalgia can run in families, but it also seen in individuals with no family history of fibromyalgia. Having other diseases can increase your likelihood of having fibromyalgia – these include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Osteoarthritis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
• Depression
• Anxiety

Fibromyalgia can also be seen to occur after a mentally or physically traumatic event. This could include a car accident, a surgical procedure, an infection, or some sort of stressful situation.

The symptoms of fibromyalgia are usually diffuse. Individuals oftentimes experience pain and tenderness throughout the body, fatigue, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and headaches. People with fibromyalgia do not always experience all these symptoms at once, and they also do not always experience all these symptoms ever.

Combating fibromyalgia oftentimes requires a multidisciplinary approach. Some individuals might require certain medications to aid with sleep and pain. Exercise can be helpful with some fibromyalgia pain, so different therapies can be helpful in teaching you how to move your body correctly and in ways that might be more beneficial to you. Trigger point injections have also seen to be helpful in the relief of pain in many patients, including fibromyalgia patients. If you or someone you know is suffering from fibromyalgia, come in and see how we can help decrease your pain and improve your daily life!

Sources: One and Two: Video