Fibromyalgia and upper cervical chiropractic care?
Fibromyalgia and upper cervical chiropractic care
?Fibromyalgia is made up of a group of associated symptoms. Intense muscle aches, with distinct pain points in key muscles around the body are the hallmarks of fibromyalgia. These are the classic "fibro hotspots" and are generally required to have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. In some patients flare-ups of these points are so severe that they can only be touched with a light pressure, if they can be touched at all. In addition to this predictable pattern of pain, fibromyalgia patients often have headaches, irritable bowel, insomnia, fatigue, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs. Depending on what group of symptoms a patient experiences, fibromyalgia can be extremely debilitating on a daily basis, or constant, but manageable, annoyance.
From the perspective of modern medicine, there is no single known factor that causes fibromyalgia. Given the varying experiences that patients with this "syndrome" have, this makes sense, but this lack of a single cause is often frustrating to fibromyalgia patients. They want to know what needs to be fixed so that they can feel normal. However, in reality, a cocktail of lifestyle changes and care options may be necessary to help the body overcome a majority of its fibro patterns. Finding this right combination takes time, patience, and depending on the availability of local providers, a commitment to traveling long distance to see specialists in fibro care.
Fibromyalgia reports experiencing benefits from many of the following interventions: prescription drugs, manual therapies including massage, physical therapy, and chiropractic care, and nutritional therapy, including dietary changes, and the use of specific supplement and cleansing protocols.
Recent research into the origins of the unique patterns of fibromyalgia muscle pain show that there is a mis-communication between the nervous system and the body's muscle systems. It is almost as if the nervous system is pushing excess signals and energy into the body's muscular system, causing a build-up of tension and lactic acid. Recent strategies in pharmaceutical treatment of fibromyalgia includes drugs which alter and depress central nervous system firing for this exact reason.
Because of its ability to influence the nervous system, and the tension of the muscles across the whole body, many fibromyalgia patients have found significant help with upper cervical chiropractic care . Upper cervical chiropractic care offers a gentle correction of joint dysfunctions which occur at the unique joints between the head and the neck. It is believed that these upper cervical spinal misalignments cause a miscommunication between the brain and the body, which influence different patients in different ways. The junction between the head and skull is very unique as it rests just below where the lower brain stem becomes the spinal cord, and the nervous system has a high density of receptors in the area in order to track and maintain the position of the head. An upper cervical misalignment, called the Atlas Subluxation Complex by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA), can be understood to cause a "short" in the body's wiring.
While emotional trauma, nutritional imbalances, and lack of motion and exercise can all play a role in fibromyalgia, patients who receive gentle upper cervical chiropractor corrections often report a significant improvement in the first few months after starting care. These improvements are often enough to help them take-over their own fibromyalgia management, focusing on nutritional balancing and exercise. Due to the gentle nature of the care, and its influence in the nervous system, upper cervical chiropractic care may be the preferred choices of fibromyalgia patients.