Fibromyalgia is a controversial diagnosis. Some doctors aren’t familiar with it, and some don’t believe it exists. We see it on a regular basis in our office, so we know it’s real and believe our patients deserve treatment for what ails them. Fortunately, it’s possible through our holistic approach. Let our experts at Premier Chiropractic Center, serving Bessemer, AL, and the nearby region, explain a little more about this condition and our treatment.
General Information
As a general rule, fibromyalgia is a pain disorder affecting the musculoskeletal system. Individuals who suffer from it experience widespread pain, along with mood issues, memory problems, and fatigue. Some patients have trouble sleeping and difficulty paying attention.
Causes
As of right now, December 2022, it’s not known what causes this condition. Researchers think it stems from pain sensations being amplified by your spinal cord and brain. They believe there may be non-painful signals being sent throughout the nervous system that are being interrupted as pain.
Some researchers think the spinal cord and brain of people with fibromyalgia change due to repetitive nerve stimulation. Ultimately, this nerve stimulation causes chemical changes in the brain, which can alter pain signaling.
It’s also thought that the brain’s pain receptors establish a pain memory, and once they become so used to the pain, they become desensitized. The person will then overreact to both non-painful and painful signals.
Ultimately, scientists think there’s a genetic connection. They’ve noticed that it sometimes runs in families. Therefore, it’s thought there’s a genetic mutation that may increase a person’s risk of this disorder. Sometimes, fibromyalgia may be triggered by an infection or other illness. In other cases, the other illness may increase the intensity of your symptoms.
Risk Factors
Gender seems to have an impact on whether or not someone will develop fibromyalgia. Although both women and men can develop it, the condition tends to occur more frequently in women than in men.
As briefly noted above, genetics appears to play a role, so if you have a sibling or parent with it, your chances increase.
People who have rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or lupus have an increased likelihood of developing fibromyalgia.
Diagnosing Fibromyalgia
A chiropractor usually isn’t the practitioner to determine if you have this condition. It’s usually a doctor who’ll tell you that you have it. Our practitioner can assist once you have a diagnosis or can get a general idea if this could be your problem. We can do this by assessing your pain. Our chiropractor will ask you if you had widespread pain for three months or longer. Particularly, our specialist will be asking if you have pain in your arm, shoulder, hip, buttocks, back, or abdomen, among other places. For it to be fibromyalgia, you would need to have multiple of these areas without a known cause.
Chiropractic Care for Fibromyalgia
Since fibromyalgia is thought to be caused by the nervous system, it could benefit you to receive chiropractic care to improve nerve signaling throughout the body. We can also ease pressure on the nearby nerves and soft tissue in your back, which may take away some of your pain.
Our chiropractic care may ease some of your inflammation, ultimately reducing the amount of pain you have. This treatment approach may also improve your flexibility and range of motion while increasing your strength and muscle tone.
At Premier Chiropractic Center, serving Bessemer, AL, and the general vicinity, we might not know from experience what our patients with fibromyalgia are going through, but we can get a generalized idea based on what we’re told. From this picture, we want to see these individuals live with less pain and not let this condition hold them back.
Contact 205-519-4024, or use our online form if you have back, neck, or other pain as a result of a possible fibromyalgia diagnosis. We’re here to help!
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