Fibromyalgia affects the muscles and soft tissue. The word Fibromyalgia is derived from three words: fibro, which is Latin for fibrous tissue; myo, which is Greek for muscle; and algia, also Greek and meaning pain. It is a chronic syndrome which covers symptoms including muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. More than 12 million Americans are afflicted by Fibromyalgia. Women are 10 times more likely to get this disease than men. Most of them range in age from 25 to 60 years old. Fibromyalgia is the result of stress-induced changes to your metabolism and healing process. It usually appears in a slow, creeping fashion.
Fibromyalgia causes your body to ache everywhere. You may also experience horrible fatigue. Certain spots on your body may be very painful to touch. You might also experience swelling, disturbances in your sleep, and mood swings or depression.
Your muscles might feel like they have been overworked or pulled, even without exercise. Your muscles might also twitch, burn, or have deep stabbing pain.
Other Fibromyalgia symptoms include:
Are you tired of your chronic pain? Chiropractic treatment at Back 2 Health Physical Medicine has proven to be an effective non-pharmaceutical treatment for relieving the chronic pain of Fibromyalgia and will help patients regain their mobility and quality of life. Fibromyalgia causes muscles to tighten and lose their natural pliability, which triggers the spine to decrease its own flexibility, which leads the muscles to tighten even more. It is a vicious cycle that can get worse and worse, causing ever greater pain. Treatments should happen three to four times per month, and these sessions will be gentler than normal to take into account the muscles’ susceptibility to injury and their lack of healing ability.
Therapeutic massage manipulates the muscles and soft tissues of the body and helps ease deep muscle pain. It also helps relieve pain of tender points, muscles spasms, and tense muscles.
Myofascial Release Therapy, which works on a broader range of muscles, can gently stretch, soften, lengthen, and realign the connective tissue to ease discomfort.
Trigger Point Therapy can alleviate the knots in your muscle fibers that have gone into spasms.
Cold Laser Therapy stimulates tissues into healing and decreases pain sensations. A study of 846 fibromyalgia sufferers in 1997 and reported in the Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine and Surgery revealed that two-thirds of the group enjoyed less pain and more mobility following cold laser therapy. Another study in Rheumatology International in 2002 reported significant improvement in pain, fatigue and morning stiffness after cold laser therapy.
The American Pain Society recommends moderately intense aerobic exercise at least two or three times a week. They also endorse clinician-assisted treatments, such as hypnosis, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, and chiropractic manipulation for pain relief.
Along with alternative therapies, it’s important to allow time each day to rest and relax. Relaxation therapies — such as deep muscle relaxation or deep breathing exercises — may help reduce the added stress that can trigger fibromyalgia symptoms. Having a regularly scheduled bedtime is also important. Sleep is essential to let the body repair itself.
The team at Back 2 Health Physical Medicine will provide a specialized treatment plan for Fibromyalgia patients. Call us today at (843) 258-5401 to schedule your free consultation!