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Perhaps one of the most popular enigmatic pain conditions to affect the lives of human beings worldwide is fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a condition that, because of its symptom differentiation, has baffled many practitioners. Secondly, there are no current diagnostic tests available to objectify a diagnosis. There are only symptoms to look for and an educated guess to be made. For this reason, many people refer to fibromyalgia as the “wastebasket diagnosis”. Other conditions, in those diagnosed with fibromyalgia, may persist such as subclinical hypothyroidism, a systemic infection, or other environmental factor that manifests many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia such as, but not limited to, myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and a host of other medical conditions that relate to other organs of the body. When a systemic condition occurs it affects every cell of the body, which is why there are many different symptoms involved in these cases. It is of the outmost importance that a person receives an accurate diagnosis to avoid years of needless suffering. Dr. John C. Lowe, DC published a research oriented text titled The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia. Since the text is very medically oriented, he and his wife, Dr. Gina Honymann-Lowe, published a text for the patient titled, Your Guide to Metabolic Health. In this text, Dr. Lowe explains how the thyroid affects the human body and why, many times, patients are misdiagnosed. This book is a must read if you feel you may have a thyroid condition or if you are on T4 therapy and it has not alleviated your symptoms. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) defines fibromyalgia as, “...a clinical syndrome defined by chronic widespread muscular pain, fatigue and tenderness. Many people with fibromyalgia also experience additional symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder, cognitive and memory problems (often called “fibro fog”), temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD), pelvic pain, restless leg syndrome, sensitivity to noise and temperature, and anxiety and depression. These symptoms can vary in intensity and, like the pain of fibromyalgia, wax and wane over time.” Devin Starlanyl is a physician who suffered the effects of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). She then wrote a book called The Fibromyalgia Survival Manual, which has touched the lives of many people who suffer through this condition. The NAMTPT recognizes Dr. Starlanyl and this book to be an invaluable tool in the management of MPS and CFS. In their text, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, Drs. Janet Travell and David Simons alert us to be sure that we have differentiated between fibromyalgia and MPS. They state that trigger points (TrPs) are present in the majority of people who suffer with fibromyalgia and that it is easier to distinguish which is the proper diagnosis while the pain is still in its acute phase. The text leaves us with a comparison between TrPs and fibromyalgia. Clinical Features Distinguishing Myofascial Pain due to Trigger Points from Fibromyalgia1:
Myofascial Trigger Point Therapists, though not clinical diagnosticians, may be able to provide symptomatic relief to those suffering from fibromyalgia since 72% of fibromyalgia patients have active TrPs. Reference: 1. Simons D G, Travell J G: Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction--The Trigger Point Manual Vol 1. 2:39. |
