Fibromyalgia: Symptoms And Treatment
Fibromyalgia is a muscular pain syndrome that can be extremely hard to diagnose. It is most common among middle-aged women, but can affect anyone, regardless of gender or age. The patient will usually have general muscle pain and back pain and an overall feeling of being fatigued or tired. Their neurological exam will typically come back with a normal result, making it difficult to identify fibromyalgia as the source of the problems.
In addition to the generalized pain most fibromyalgia patients experience, there may be a number of tender points that hurt when touched. These tender spots are most commonly found on the arms, legs, hips, neck, shoulders, and back. Other symptoms may include headaches, stiff joints, depression, and tingling or numbness in the extremities. Some patients have difficulty sleeping or will awaken feeling fatigued, no matter how long they sleep.
Because of the wide variety of symptoms caused by fibromyalgia, treatment may be handled by a team of doctors rather than just the patient's general practice physician. Often a rheumatologist must get involved in the treatment process since they specialize in the area of joints, ligaments, muscles.
Physicians who treat fibromyalgia typically include family physicians, general internists, or rheumatologists (who specialize in treating painful conditions that involve the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments). Often a team of healthcare professionals is the best option to treat the diverse symptoms of fibromyalgia. Internal medicine doctors may also be consulted if the fatigue or pain causes problems with the digestive system or organs of the body.
Treatment for fibromyalgia can be difficult because there is usually no identifiable cause. Since the root of the problem often cannot be corrected, doctors are restricted to only treating the symptoms. This allows the patient to at least be functional in their daily life, even if they must still endure pain and fatigue at times. New developments in fibromyalgia treatment may offer hope, with the FDA approving the new drug Lyrica in 2007. This is the first medication that is specifically intended to treat the pain that is caused by fibromyalgia.
Traditional fibromyalgia treatments include pain medications, injections of lidocaine into tender points, and light aerobic conditional to keep the body as healthy as possible. Patients are usually given non-narcotic drugs because they will have to take these medications for the rest of their lives. In severe cases, narcotic pain medications may be prescribed, but under strict supervision of a pain management clinic to prevent addiction and withdrawal issues.