What Is Fibromyalgia?

One positive light that comes out of the dark tunnel of fibromyalgia is that despite the fact that the pain can show you stars during the day, you don’t have to worry about body damage or of body deformity. Since, some of the symptoms are similar to arthritis that can cause body deformity there is always a nagging fear at the back of the mind of fibromyalgia patients that possibly they can get deformed. However, the compensation of keeping their body in shape is no compensation. For one thing, the pain makes up for the deformity. So, a slight pinch or a pin prick that a normal person would not bat an eyelid, would send the patient with fibromyalgia howling with pain, especially if the stimuli is within the nine tender points. However, since, it also causes extreme fatigue; the patient would more likely find very less energy to howl. To top it all relief through sleep is also hard to come by. If sleep is managed somehow then it will be restless and the patient will wake up even more tired the next day. This disorder is quite a puzzle in the medical community and as of now, there are no universally recognized treatments. All the known treatments depend only on managing the symptoms. To know more read the article below for the causes, symptoms, and treatment of fibromyalgia.

Causes, Symptoms And Treatment Of Fibromyalgia

Causes Of Fibromyalgia

The exact cause of fibromyalgia is still not known.
Some studies point to the fact that one reason of the cause of fibromyalgia can be because the central nervous system becomes supersensitive. This results in the diffusion of pain perception on patients.
Even the impairment of the non-rapid eye movement can lead to fibromyalgia. As a result, the patients wake up fatigued and unrefreshed.
Even psychological distress, trauma, and infection are the likely causes.
Another cause is due to the increase in the level of nerve chemical signal and the nerve growth factor in the spinal fluid.
Even a decrease in the brain chemical level, serotonin, can cause fibromyalgia.
Stress is also an important factor to cause fibromyalgia.

Symptoms Of Fibromyalgia

The main and the most important symptom of fibromyalgia is the pain.
The pain threshold is very low and there is increased sensitivity to many different sensory stimuli.
In patients with fibromyalgia the pain is disabling and severe even in minor stimuli that in normal people would not cause any pain.
Noise, stress and the change in weather can also increase the pain.
The pain encompasses both the sides of the body and mostly affects the neck, buttocks, shoulders, arms, the chest, and the upper back.
The tender areas of the body called ‘tender points’, which are around the elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, back of the head, and the side of the breastbone can bring in extreme pain and muscle spasms.
Another recognizable symptom is excessive fatigue. This can also be related to the abnormal sleep pattern faced by the patients. Patients of fibromyalgia lack the deep refreshing sleep.
Almost half the patients experience emotional disturbances.
Migraine, tension headaches, numbness, abdominal pain, frequent urination are some of the other symptoms.

Treatment Of Fibromyalgia

Due to a variety of symptoms, the treatment of fibromyalgia must be individualized for each patient.
The first step is to educate the patient to understand and cope with the diverse symptoms.
The level of stress in the patients must be reduced. The stress reduction techniques must be different for different patients. The best is to encourage optimal sleep.
Low impact exercises like swimming, cycling, walking etc. can be very effective in treating fibromyalgia. Doing these exercises every alternate day and especially in the morning is especially good.
The diet should be such that it encourages sleep. That is why avoid alcohol and caffeine before going to bed.
Medications taken in consultation with a doctor can also be effective.

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