What is Fibromyalgia?
Let’s start by saying that Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition. This means that it has a long-term occurrence.
Fibromyalgia causes:
- Cognitive disturbances
- Poor sleep
- General fatigue
- Tenderness in some areas of the body
- Bone and muscle pain (musculoskeletal pains).
Understanding fibromyalgia is somewhat tricky. It has almost the same symptoms as other conditions, and there are no specific tests to confirm its diagnosis. And so, the condition is often misdiagnosed in most cases.
Before now, many healthcare providers doubted the reality of Fibromyalgia. But with the advancement in medical science, we now have a better understanding of this condition. What’s more? The stigma that usually characterizes this condition has been eased.
Treating Fibromyalgia is still challenging no doubt. But some medications can help you to manage the symptoms. You can also manage fibromyalgia symptoms with specific lifestyle changes.
Also, is there a connection between upper chiropractic care and Fibromyalgia? Can upper chiropractic care help to resolve Fibromyalgia?
You see, not every fibromyalgia patient knows about upper cervical chiropractic care for Fibromyalgia. However, those who have tried it have found great success.
Before we understand the connection between upper cervical chiropractic care and Fibromyalgia, let us first understand this condition’s basics.
Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is the primary cause of what is called “regions of pain.” These regions usually overlap with what is known as “tender points” or “trigger points.” However, some of these trigger or tender points have been excluded.
The pain in the tender points is usually dull and consistent. Your doctor may diagnose this condition if you’ve had the pains in at least 4 out of the five pain regions listed in the 2016 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria (1).
This protocol for diagnosis is known as “multisite pain.”
To diagnose this condition, your healthcare provider will focus on the areas in which you experience the pain and the severity of the pain.
Fibromyalgia is also characterized by symptoms such as:
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Fatigue
- Nom-restorative sleep (sleeping for long hours and waking up exhausted)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Headaches
- Dry eyes
- Bladder conditions, like interstitial cystitis
- Dull pain or ache in the lower abdomen
- Inability to maintain focus, or attention
The nerves or brains of fibromyalgia patients may overreact or misinterpret standard pain signals. The underlying cause may be an imbalance of the brain’s chemicals, or probably a malfunction of the dorsal root ganglion that affects brain sensitization (2).
Fibromyalgia can also affect a person’s energy level and emotions.
Fibromyalgia Trigger Points
Before now, Fibromyalgia was diagnosed if a person experienced widespread tenderness and pain in 11 out of 18 trigger points. Doctors would press these points firmly to determine how many of these points were painful.
These trigger points included:
- Outer elbows
- Knees
- Hips
- Upper chest
- Top of the shoulder
- Back of the head
Presently, these trigger points are no longer used as criteria for diagnosis. Instead, clinicians may make a diagnosis if you’ve experienced pain in 4 out of 5 pain regions as defined by the 2016 diagnostic criteria (1). You don’t have any underlying condition that could share similar pain symptoms.
Treatment for Fibromyalgia
Presently, there’s no cure for this condition.
Treatment focuses on easing the symptoms and improving the patient’s quality of life. Treatment for Fibromyalgia may be achieved with:
- Lifestyle changes
- Self-care strategies
- Medications
Medication relieves the pain and allows you to have a good night’s rest. Therapy (both physical & occupational) can improve your strength and reduce stress. Exercise will enable you to feel better – mentally and physically.
Can Fibromyalgia be Treated with Foundational Chiropractic Care?
Foundational Chiropractic care can be a natural treatment option for Fibromyalgia. This method of procedure promotes self-healing and repair by correcting the upper cervical spine (top of the neck) back to normal. One thing you should know is that Fibromyalgia originates from the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and not the areas where the pain is felt.
Specifically correcting the upper cervical spine can improve abnormal blood flow, muscle abnormalities, or irregularities in your autonomic nervous system and endocrine system.
At Foundation Chiropractic, your doctor will examine your upper cervical spine, and its effect on the brain stem. If these bones are not aligned as they should, it causes pressure to build upon your brain stem resulting in disruption of brain-to-body communication. This results in mixed signals, alteration of your chemical balance, and ultimately, loss of your body’s self-repair and healing ability.
Note that all nerves in your body originate from within your brain stem. If the brain stem is compressed, these nerves will be affected, resulting in nerve damage and other issues in your body.
The remaining part of the spine may also be affected by the upper cervical spine. A misalignment of the head of the upper cervical area causes the remaining portion of the spine to curve, twist, and turn abnormally. These abnormal positionings cause the nerves to pinch and damage or weaken any tissue or muscle surrounding them.
In Foundational Chiropractic care for Fibromyalgia, the upper cervical spine is readjusted, thus removing the pressure on the brain stem. This will open the signal pathway between the body and brain, thus enhancing correction and self-repair.
The remaining part of the spine will follow suit and return to its normal state. Several clinical research and case reports have shown that upper cervical chiropractic improves Fibromyalgia (3).
Schedule a Complimentary Consultation
If you are suffering from Fibromyalgia, or your loved one is, and you want a natural alternative to conventional medicine you should try Foundational Chiropractic care. You can also schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Brett Berner of Foundation Chiropractic, Lutz, FL. We will be happy to discuss with you and put you back on the path to wellness. Who knows, a consultation may be the starting point for your way to optimal function and a higher quality of life.
References
Frederick Wolfe, Daniel J. Clauw, Mary-Ann Fitzcharles, Don L. Goldenberg, Winfried Häuser, Robert L. Katz, Philip J. Mease, Anthony S. Russell, Irwin Jon Russell, Brian Walitt. 2016 Revisions to the 2010/2011 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism Volume 46, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 319-329, ISSN 0049-0172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2016.08.012.
Ahimsadasan N, Reddy V, Kumar A. Neuroanatomy, Dorsal Root Ganglion. [Updated 2020 Oct 6]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532291/
Bennett, C., and N. Tedder. “Improvement in a Patient with Fibromyalgia Following Knee Chest Upper Cervical Specific Care: A Case Report.” (2012).
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