Understanding Fibromyalgia.

The National Institute of Health describes Fibromyalgia as

“Fibromyalgia makes you feel tired and causes muscle pain and "tender points." Tender points are places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms or legs that hurt when touched. People with fibromyalgia may have other symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, and problems with thinking and memory, sometimes called "fibro fog."

No one knows what causes fibromyalgia. Anyone can get it, but it is most common in middle-aged women. People with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases are particularly likely to develop fibromyalgia.”

This is a debilitating problem for anyone.

New studies have now shown that a patient’s brain activity can help to unlock the mystery why sufferers seem to experience more pain than other. Vitaly Napadow PhD found that the brain of the FM sufferer was more likely to have an increase in the connection between areas of the brain that sensed and processed pain. Therefore the FM patient had a higher response to pain than an average person would.

That is a great relief to the FM patient, because for so long they have been labeled unfairly. The pain they feel is real, they are just more likely to feel a greater range of pain as opposed to someone who had less connections.

In the text -Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain: A Survival Manual (2nd Edition) it is discussed that FM should renamed Central Nervous System Sensitization due to the fact that is primarily a CNS issue and not a muscular issue. The muscle fibres are originally healthy and only after a prolonged period of time would the exhibit changes due to long term stress created by the pain experienced.

The typical areas of trigger points that FM patients experience are

Managing the high level of pain messages that the brain receives and dealing with the trigger points makes a dual directional approach to the FM patients care plan. Chiropractic care can play an important part of this plan. Our focus on the whole body and the neurological integrity of the central nervous system allows us to help in the overall functioning of the patients’ body.