Fibromyalgia—What You Need to Know

Fibromyalgia may be the first place your mind jumps if you start feeling pain in various parts of your body for no apparent reason. An official diagnosis can be frustrating since your doctor will often want to rule out other possible conditions first, but you don’t want to self-diagnose your pain and be wrong, so it is best to seek a professional.

What are some of the things that a person needs to know about fibromyalgia? Let’s start with the symptoms of this chronic condition.

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Symptoms of this full-body chronic disorder include:

• Pain and joint stiffness
• Difficulty sleeping
• Extreme fatigue
• Bladder and bowel problems
• Tingling and numbness
• Cognitive issues (memory and focus)
• Trouble swallowing
• Anxiety and depression
• PTSD

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Where may this widespread pain spring from? One of the possible causes is a neurochemical imbalance. This can cause inflammation and result in signals passing to and from the brain that cause pain to be interpreted improperly.

While anyone can be affected by fibromyalgia, certain traits increase the risk. These risk factors include:

• Gender – Women get fibromyalgia far more often than men, and it becomes even more common during menopause.
• Genetics – If you have family members with fibromyalgia, you may be at greater risk.
• Sedentary – Those who exercise less (or not at all) seem more prone to this condition.
• Trauma – Especially when trauma occurs to the head or neck, fibromyalgia is more likely to occur.

Hope for Fibromyalgia Sufferers

Upper cervical chiropractors are finding success in helping patients with fibromyalgia. This gentle and specific form of chiropractic focuses on the C1 and C2 vertebrae, the top two bones in the neck. Even the slightest misalignment in this sensitive part of the body can have powerful effects on the way the brain and body communicate. If this affects pain signals, in particular, it could be the underlying cause of a person’s fibromyalgia.

Author Elan Schrier Dr. Elan Schrier is the clinic director of Schrier Family Chiropractic. He specializes in upper cervical chiropractic and continuously is training to improve the quality of his patients' lives. He has a lot of success with difficult vertigo, migraine, and fibromyalgia patients.