Fibromyalgia causes aches and tenderness in the muscles, as well as sleep problems, fatigue, and other symptoms. These symptoms often disrupt your daily activities. The pain usually occurs in the neck and shoulders, back, hands, and pelvis. Patients experience several symptoms with varying intensities that come and go over time.
It sometimes occurs in conjunction with other muscle or joint diseases, so determining how many people have fibromyalgia is difficult. FM is age and race blind, but a higher percentage of women have been diagnosed with the condition. Fibromyalgia is associated with 18 specific tender points on the body that are painful when you press directly on them. Anxiety and depression are also common in people with FM and may make symptoms worse. The exhaustion associated with FM is debilitating and interferes with even the simplest of daily activities.
Many fibromyalgia patients have a sleep disorder, which prevents them from getting restful and restorative sleep. While sleeping, scientist have reported periods of awakening brain activity, in patients with FM, that reduces the amount of “deep sleep”, which is important in repairing the body. As if that weren’t bad enough, FM patients can also experience headaches and migraines, restless legs syndrome, impaired memory and concentration, skin rashes, dry eyes and mouth, anxiety, depression, ringing in the ears, dizziness, vision problems, neurological symptoms, and impaired coordination.
The pain associated with FM has no limitations; it will migrate to any part of the body and vary in intensity level. It has been described as deep muscular aching, throbbing, twitching, stabbing, and shooting pain. Some patients experience numbness, tingling, and burning that add to the discomfort. The symptoms are often worse in the morning.
Chiropractic therapy is based on the theory that a person’s health is determined by the status of the CNS and its relation to the spine and muscles, without the use of medication or surgery. The idea that spinal manipulation would alleviate the CNS abnormalities associated with FM stands to reason because spinal manipulation is used to relieve pressure and increase blood flow to specific nerves.