Fibromyalgia and chiropractic - is it all in your head?
Fibromyalgia and chiropractic - is it all in your head
?
Chronic pain is something that far too many people make themselves live with. Severe pain is so difficult to live with that people are forced into action in order to stop the pain. Mild pain, on the other hand, is something that can be ignored, and often is. We all live hectic and busy lives working, doing chores and errands, minding our children and pets and all of this can take priority over our own health and comfort. Failure to address your pain often results in a more intractable condition, one that takes more time and effort to treat.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition that is diagnosed by examining the body for tenderness. This tenderness is measured by putting pressure at 18 specific spots on the body. If 11 of the 18 spots are more sensitive to touch and cause pain, the diagnosis of fibromyalgia may be given. Oftentimes, fibromyalgia is considered only after ruling out or excluding a number of other similar conditions. Many health professionals are unwilling to diagnose patients with fibromyalgia and will insist that the problem is "all in your head", insinuating that the patient is being too sensitive or is a hypochondriac or attention-seeking. It can be very embarrassing when your doctor insists that your pain is not real and that you are embellishing or imagining your discomfort.
Even with a proper diagnosis there is precious little in the way of treatment for fibromyalgia. One medicine commonly prescribed for fibromyalgia is Cymbalta. Among the side effect of Cymbalta are headaches, weakness, muscle pain and spasm. Clearly, it is not desirable to take a medicine that is known to cause the symptoms it is being prescribed to treat.
"It's all in your head"
When a doctor looks at you after hearing you tell the story of your pain and how it interferes with your life and tells you that "it's all in your head", they might actually be right.
Chronic stress actually causes a process in your brain and nervous system known as "central sensitization". What happens is that long-term exposure to physical stress (poor posture or injuries), chemical stress (pollutants, unhealthy foods), and emotional stress (anxiety, work, poor sleep) causes the body to become hypersensitive to pain signals. When exposed to chronic stress the upper part of the brainstem becomes less able to modulate the activity of the lower part of the brainstem, and this means the lower part becomes more sensitive to picking up and registering even very mild pain signals. On top of this imbalance in the brainstem, stress also causes your body to release cortisol & catecholamines from the adrenal glands, chemicals which are toxic to your brain and immune system in higher-than-normal levels and which bring pain nerves closer to the threshold which causes them to fire off pain signals.
All of this means that you are becoming more sensitive to pain. So much, in fact, that the sensation of pain can persist even after the cause of the pain is long gone.
What does this have to do with chiropractic?
I am going to warn you, this is about to get a bit scientific and might be difficult for someone who isn't a doctor to follow along.
Chiropractic adjustments remove subluxations (misalignments in your spine) and allow your body to move and feel better, to function better, and for a reduction in pain. The physical act of a chiropractor using his or her hands to move your spinal bones back into proper position and to release the pressure this puts on your nervous system also provides a blast of sensory input into your brain via the spinal nerves and provides an immediate, short-term reduction in pain by stimulating the joint movement receptors that are found in abundance in your spinal joints. When those nerve ending are stimulated the "fast" Type A fibers inhibit the "slow" Type C chronic pain nerves. Over the long term, those "mechanoreceptors" firing up into the brainstem and into the cerebellum (and then across and up to the cerebral cortex via the thalamus) will provide stimulation to allow the cortex to be more able to inhibit the peri-aqueductal gray matter and help recalibrate the brain's pain-sensitivity.
On top of that, research using "brain mapping" and computer imaging has recently shown that obesity is correlated to actual shrinking of the brain. Chronic pain is linked to obesity due to decreased exercise and activity. That means that fibromyalgia is a one-two punch to the brain: the pain causes the above-mentioned changes to the nervous system and brain, and the decreased physical activity due to the pain further causes atrophy and shrinking of the brain.
What patients need is an active care approach to treatment for fibromyalgia that will incorporate both a mild exercise program with an empathetic bedside manner in which the chiropractor provides education and positive emotional support. Chiropractic adjustments will provide the input to the nervous system that will help reset the balance of the brain's pain perception mechanism. This is a combination approach that reduces short-term pain, encourages positive and healthy decisions, and empowers the patient and it does not include drugs.
Patients should understand that the choice is more or less between paying a doctor for a bottle of pills compared to meeting and talking with a qualified health professional a number of times in order to truly improve their health by addressing the cause rather than the symptoms.
In closing I strongly advise anyone to consult a doctor before acting on this advice. A qualified chiropractor, perhaps one with an interest in functional neurology, would be able to provide the appropriate care as outlined in this article. This article is for informative, educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice for any person without a proper examination from a licensed chiropractor or other appropriate doctor.
Axis Chiropractic of Lee's Summit: EWG Guide on Pesticides Chiropractic Concerns Answered What is Chiropractic, chiropractor orange ca The Results Of San Francisco's Chiropractic Practitioners Dicom Solutions for Chiropractic Offices Chiropractic care for Fibromyalgia Chiropractic Care Understanding The Primary Phases Of Chiropractic Care Chiropractic Care: Risks vs Benefits Chiropractic And Arthritis Chiropractic makes the brain work better, pain relief is a side effect The Best Chiropractic Clinic Gulf Breeze, Florida Chiropractic Care And The Impact Of Involuntary Dehydration