Fibromyalgia is a pain… in your neck, back, shoulders — basically throughout your body. It’s a tough medical nut to crack because pain is a symptom of so many diseases and ailments. That’s why the team at Apollo Pain Management uses a multidisciplinary approach to manage fibromyalgia pain and its other bothersome symptoms.
What is fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder lasting more than three months that affects the way your brain processes and amplifies pain signals. An article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings likens the problem to a “volume control setting” for pain that is set abnormally high, while a patient’s pain threshold may be set uncommonly low.
The disorder, which affects 2% to 5% of the US adult population, is characterized by musculoskeletal pain throughout your body, fatigue, memory, mood, and sleep problems. More women than men develop fibromyalgia, which often appears after some physical trauma, psychological stress, infection, or surgery. Sometimes, fibromyalgia pain just shows up out of nowhere with no clear triggering event.
Fibromyalgia symptoms include:
- Constant, dull, and long-lasting aches located above and below your waist and on both sides of your body
- Awakening feeling tired even though you’ve slept a long time or lack of sleep due to pain or a sleep disorder
- “Fibro fog,” cognitive difficulty that impairs concentration and mood
People with fibromyalgia often also report tension headaches, temporomandibular joint disorders, anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome.
How to treat fibromyalgia
Although you can’t cure fibromyalgia, you can control and lessen its symptoms through a multidisciplinary approach that welcomes you as an active partner in your treatment. Studies recommend that pharmacological and exercise treatments should “start low, and go slow.”
Medication
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved three medications to fight fibromyalgia symptoms. The drugs — pregabalin, duloxetine, and milnacipran — influence the way the central nervous system processes pain signals. These medications don’t cure the disorder, but they improve your function and symptoms.
Nonpharmacological approaches
Nonpharmacological treatments are effective fibromyalgia controls, equally important as prescribed medicines. They include:
- Sleep hygiene education to maximize length and quality of sleep
- Cardiovascular exercise
- Cognitive behavioral therapy to manage stress
- Yoga
- Massage
- Physical therapy
Ongoing education
After diagnosis, it’s vital that you understand your fibromyalgia, the reasons behind your treatment plan, a timetable for results, and consequences of not following the plan.
If you’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, or if you have chronic pain and don’t know the cause, call Apollo Pain Management today at: 833-320-7246.