subject: Some Important Facts About Fibromyalgia [print this page] Some Important Facts About Fibromyalgia Some Important Facts About Fibromyalgia
This is one of the most common disease which affects a large number of population. Females are more commonly affected by fibromyalgia than males. The people between 25-60 years of age are more affected. At present according to a survey more children are also being affected by fibromyalgia.
The pain occurs in the place where muscles are connected to ligament, tendon or bone. Fibromyalgia is same as arthritis. No bone deformity is seen in fibromyalgia. In fibromyalgia, usually pain starts in neck or shoulders and gradually spreads to other parts. There may be variation of pain according to the change in weather, time of day, stress, body activity etc.
In fibromyalgia there are different kinds of pain. There may be stiffened pain, burning or stabbing sensation, a sudden rise, or radiating nature or aching type. Some symptoms seen in fibromyalgia are sleep disturbances, fatigue, and migraine headaches. It may be due to lack of serotonin. Some common symptoms evident in almost all the patients of fibromyalgia promises in diagnosis. If in some cases, these symptoms are not present, then often there is wrong diagnosis and physician may consider it as some other disease.
Other rare symptoms includes, tingling, numbness in extremities, GIT symptoms like irritable bowel syndrome, bladder spasm etc. Females may complain of painful menstruation. Also the patient may suffer from constipation alternating with diarrhoea. Lowered concentration, depression and alteration of mood may also occur due to fibromyalgia.
The cause of fibromyalgia remains vague. Only few assumptions and propositions are thought to be the reason for its cause. There are many theories which give some explanations regarding the causation. One point of view is that reduction in blood flow in the muscle tissue and in the thalamus along with caudate nucleus is the reason for pain. Whereas some suggests that the reduction in the serotonin level is the cause. Also abnormal functioning of pain processing pathways may also be responsible for pain in fibromyalgia.
Usually two types of fibromyalgia are there. The two types are Primary and Secondary. Primary fibromyalgia is generally called as idiopathic i.e. without any cause. But Secondary fibromyalgia has some causes. It may related to other diseases like Hepatitis C, Lyme disease, surgery, injures etc.
The treatment of fibromyalgia is mainly for relieving the pain. Some medicines are recommended to minimize the muscle pain. Anti-depressants may also be prescribed sometimes. Certainly Muscle relaxants like skelaxin etc can also help. Along with this, there should be change in lifestyle also. Exercises will do more good. This include swimming, cycling, aerobics, yoga etc. Only under supervision of experts these exercises must be done.
