30 Mar Finding Solutions for Your Fibromyalgia Symptoms
According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, Fibromyalgia affects an estimated 10 million people—mainly women—in the United States alone. This rheumatological disease can be difficult to diagnose, but is discovered based on your symptoms, medical history and a thorough physical exam. The hallmark of this disease is pain and stiffness in muscles, extreme fatigue, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, tender points and difficulty with completing the tasks of daily life. Mile High Spine & Pain Center is here to help you diagnose your symptoms and to find solutions and answers to your chronic pain without resorting to pharmaceuticals or invasive treatments. We often see improvement of pain and symptoms in our patients that receive chiropractic and therapeutic help, meaning you don’t always have to live with intense pain.
Fibromyalgia: What Is It?
According to the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA), Fibromyalgia is one of the most common and debilitating pain conditions in the United States. Fibromyalgia is a combination of words that tells us exactly what it deals with. “Fibro” is Latin for fibrous tissue, “myo” is Greek for muscle, and “algia” is Greek for pain. One of the main symptoms of Fibromyalgia is pain in the muscles and soft tissues—hence the name. Although the exact cause is unknown, the disease is most prevalent in women, which could possibly be due to biological, psychological and/or sociocultural factors. Women in general are more prone to conditions and disease that involve pain such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, headaches, joint disorders and irritable bowel syndrome. Fibromyalgia is sometimes considered an “invisible disorder” by the NFA because the exact cause is unknown. However, it is shown to run in families. Women are more likely to seek treatment for the disease than men, which may relate back to sociocultural factors. Medical treatment through the use of prescription pain medicine does not always help though, as there is currently no cure. Chiropractic and therapeutic care has been shown to naturally alleviate symptoms and pain in the millions of people affected by Fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia by the Numbers
Fibromyalgia affects more than 12 million Americans, the majority of these being women. Studies have shown that women are 10 times more likely than men for getting this disease, but the reason for this is unknown. Women make up 75-90% of Fibromyalgia sufferers, but studies have shown that all ethnic groups in all nations of the world can suffer from this disease including men and children. The peak age when symptoms manifest is between 25 and 60 years old, but most are diagnosed before the age of 50. The NFA reports that 7% of new patients at rheumatology clinics are children with Fibromyalgia. Because of this, the more research that is done, the more specialists believe that Fibromyalgia begins earlier (such as in adolescence) and the symptoms and pain gradually increase until a person is diagnosed. Catching the pain and symptoms early can help a patient enroll in chiropractic and therapeutic regimes early on to avoid much of the pain throughout life, similar to the relief patients with arthritis receive.
What Does It Do?
Some people may think they are afflicted with arthritis, when the cause is really Fibromyalgia. The effects come on slowly over time, but a person will begin to feel their body ache all over. Because Fibromyalgia deals with the muscles and soft tissues, the muscles will feel like they have been pulled or overworked without exercise or physical activity. Patients will also experience pain when touching certain spots on their bodies, burning, twitching, deep stabbing pains and even symptoms such as swelling, irregular sleep patterns and changes in mood or depression. Other related symptoms are: chronic headaches, dry mouth, incontinence or irritable bowel syndrome, stiffness, hot/cold hypersensitivity and the inability to concentrate (“fibro fog”). With a barrage of symptoms such as these, it is no wonder sufferers seek speciality care!
The symptoms can occur alone or several at once. A patient may experience many symptoms at once, making this a debilitating disease for those it strikes and those close to them. After pain, the most common and debilitating symptom of Fibromyalgia is fatigue. This is not the normal tiredness that follows a busy day, but a lingering feeling of exhaustion that will make it hard to complete everyday tasks. Mile High Spine & Pain Center specializes in treatments that will help alleviate your pain and get you back into your everyday routine.
How To Treat It
People with Fibromyalgia are at a greater risk for social, vocational and emotional disability and a loss of mobility. Many medical doctors may prescribe narcotic pain killers or simply give treatments to mask the pain. This is not our approach. We believe in taking an effective non-pharmaceutical approach to actually relieve chronic pain and give you the treatment and skills necessary to manage your pain and accompanying symptoms. Fibromyalgia pain is usually compounding, meaning one part of the body with symptoms will affect another. If muscles tighten in one area of the body, those muscles lose their flexibility, which may trigger other parts of the body (such as the spine) to lose flexibility. This can happen all over, causing pain to worsen. Our chiropractic treatments work with your body to naturally manipulate the muscles and joints, making them more flexible and reducing the pain that you feel.
We also provide therapeutic massages to relieve pressure in the muscles and soft tissues and relieve pain that is located in your tender points. This can help reduce muscle spasms and tenseness. Our trigger point therapy is similar and will help locate areas of the body under intense pressure (usually with the presence of muscle knots) and remove those tense spots. We use myofascial release therapy and cold laser therapy–specifically for patients with pain–to stretch, soften, lengthen and realign connective tissues. Our laser therapy will stimulate the tissues to heal. Manipulating the body through massage, movement and therapeutic treatments will greatly reduce your pain and allow you to be more energized and mobile throughout your day. The American Pain Society also recommends exercising 2-3 times per week or more to keep your muscles strong and flexible in addition to treatment.
We see patients with Fibromyalgia often and have become highly skilled in specialized treatments catered to each patient so that they can receive the most pain-relieving and stress-reducing benefits as possible. If you currently suffer from Fibromyalgia or chronic pain, we can help you! Call our team at Mile High Spine & Pain Center today at (720) 507-0080 to schedule your free consultation and free yourself from debilitating pain!