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Signs, Symptoms And Treatment of Fibromyalgia
Includes "Treatment Of Fibromyalgia"
Date: 10/13/2009 3:17:34 AM ( 4 y ) ... viewed 1109 times Physicians' Protocol For Using Antibiotics in Rheumatic Disease
http://www.distance-healer.com/76.html
Signs And Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
One of the main features of fibromyalgia is the morning stiffness, fatigue, and multiple areas of tenderness in typical locations. Most patients with fibromyalgia complain of pain over many areas of the body, with an average of six to nine locations. Although the pain is frequently described as being all over, it is most prominent in the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and back.
Tender points are generally symmetrical and on both sides of the body. The areas of tenderness are usually small (less than an inch in diameter) and deep within the muscle. They are often located in sites that are slightly tender in normal people.
Patients with fibromyalgia, however, differ in having increased tenderness at these sites than normal persons. Firm palpation with the thumb (just past the point where the nail turns white) over the outside elbow will typically cause a vague sensation of discomfort. Patients with fibromyalgia will experience much more pain and will often withdraw the arm involuntarily.
More than 70% of patients describe their pain as profound aching and stiffness of the muscles. Often it is relatively constant from moment to moment, but certain positions or movements may momentarily worsen the pain. Other terms used to describe the pain are dull and numb.
Sharp or intermittent pain is relatively uncommon. Patients with fibromyalgia often complain that sudden loud noises worsen their pain. The generalized stiffness of fibromyalgia does not diminish with activity, unlike the stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis, which lessens as the day progresses.
Despite the lack of abnormal lab tests, patients can suffer considerable discomfort. The fatigue is often severe enough to impair activities of work and recreation. Patients commonly experience fatigue on arising and complain of being more fatigued when they wake up then when they went to bed. Over 90% of patients believe the pain, stiffness, and fatigue are made worse by cold, damp weather. Overexertion, anxiety and stress are also factors. Many people find that localized heat, such as hot baths, showers, or heating pads, give them some relief. There is also a tendency for pain to improve in the summer with mild activity or with rest.
Some patients will date the onset of their symptoms to some initiating event. This is often an injury, such as a fall, a motor vehicle accident, or a vocational or sports injury. Others find that their symptoms began with a stressful or emotional event, such as a death in the family, a divorce, a job loss, or similar occurrence.
Pain Location
Patients with fibromyalgia have pain in at least 11 of the following 18 tender point sites (one on each side of the body):
Base of the skull where the suboccipital muscle inserts.
Back of the low neck (anterior intertransverse spaces of C5-C7).
Midpoint of the upper shoulders (trapezius).
On the back in the middle of the scapula.
On the chest where the second rib attaches to the breastbone (sternum).
One inch below the outside of each elbow (lateral epicondyle).
Upper outer quadrant of buttocks.
Just behind the swelling on the upper leg bone below the hip (trochanteric prominence).
The inside of both knees (medial fat pads proximal to the joint line).
Treatment Of Fibromyalgia
There is a persuasive body of emerging evidence that indicates that patients with fibromyalgia are physically unfit in terms of sustained endurance. Some studies show that cardiovascular fitness training programs can decrease fibromyalgia pain by 75%. Sleep is critical to the improvement. Many times, improved fitness will correct the sleep disturbance.
My favorite, and most profoundly beneficial treatment for fibromyalgia is NST.
Allergies, especially to mold, seem to be another common cause of fibromyalgia. There are some simple interventions using techniques called Total Body Modification (TBM) 800-243-4826.
Also see:
http://www.clinical-rounds.com
/pdf/fibromyalgia_interview.pdf
And: http://www.clinical-rounds.com/interview.html
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