Fibromyalgia - How You Can Live With It. by ElmerFizz
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and painful condition that is extremely
hard to diagnose. The main symptoms are constant pain and
stiffness in the musculoskeletal parts of the body, soft tissue
tenderness and sleep disturbances leading to extreme tiredness.
The pain is mostly felt in the neck, back, pelvic girdle and
hands, though any other parts of the body may be affected.
This disease is very hard to diagnose because so many of the
symptoms are similar to other problems like chronic fatigue,
rheumatism and arthritis. Doctors must rely a great deal on their
patients' description of symptoms. There is a manual standardized
test that can be given to discover if there is pain at specified
points of the body. If 11 out of 18 of these specified points are
tender, and the patient has had pain in all four quadrants of the
body for at least three months then Fibromyalgia is certainly
suspected.
A compounding problem is that these symptoms can come and go from
week to week. Numbness, tingling and burning may also be present
and the pain can be affected by emotional stress, trauma and also
by weather conditions such as humidity and cold. Too little or
too much activity can also play a part in the amount of pain
experienced.
Sometimes FM can be triggered by an illness or injury, but it is
also thought to be genetic. New research has shown that it may be
caused by an interpretive defect of the central nervous system
that causes abnormal pain perception.
Once the condition has been diagnosed, there is much the patient
can do to relieve the symptoms. Certainly the advice of a medical
health-care provider should be sought and followed, but there are
many alternative treatments that offer relief from the symptoms
and most doctors agree that sufferers of FM should put into place
a multi-faceted treatment regimen that includes nutrition,
exercise, dietary supplements, acupuncture, aroma-therapy,
relaxation techniques and even the use of hot-cold therapies and
humor to aid in pain relief.
Over the counter pain relief medication such as ibuprofen can be
used, while low doses of anti-depressants from the doctor can
certainly help the sufferer to get better sleep. Lidocaine
injections into tender pain points may also be needed for relief.
Gentle exercise and stretching will prevent the muscles from
wasting away and is also beneficial in reducing pain and
stiffness
Because living with a chronic illness such as FM can be so
debilitating, sufferers need emotional support as well as
physical. Joining an FM support group can provide helpful
insights into the disease, while counseling sessions with a
trained professional can open communication with friends and
family who often cannot understand the extensive disabilities
caused by FM. If you are an FM sufferer, it is important to keep
a hopeful attitude even in the face of debilitating pain, because
this disease does tend to improve over time and there are always
new and different treatments being discovered.
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