What Is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes pain, stiffness, and tenderness of muscles, tendons, and joints. The condition is non-life-threatening and does not cause body damage, deformity, or injury to internal body organs. Fibromyalgia was formerly called fibrositis.
Whom Does Fibromyalgia Affect?
Fibromyalgia affects predominantly women (over 80% of those affected are women) between the ages of 35 and 55. Less commonly, fibromyalgia can also affect men, children, and the elderly. It can occur independently or can be associated with another disease, such as systemic lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
What are Symptoms and Signs of Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is not always easy to diagnose because symptoms vary from person to person.
• Chronic pain, stiffness, tenderness of muscles, tendons, and joints without detectable inflammation.
• Most effected sites are lower back region , buttocks, shoulder, neck.
• Suffer alternatively with poor vocabulary, headache, anxiety, depression
• Fatigue
• Mental and emotional disturbances-includes poor concentration, forgetfulness, mood changes, anxiety etc.
Conditions that mimic fibromyalgia:
• Hypothyroidism
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Paget’s disease
• Hypocalcaemia
• Cancer
How Is Fibromyalgia Diagnosed?
There are no blood tests or X-rays that specifically point the doctor to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Researchers have found elevated levels of a nerve chemical signal, called substance P, and nerve growth factor in the spinal fluid of fibromyalgia patients. Studies of pain in fibromyalgia have suggested that the central nervous system (brain) may be somehow supersensitive.
Prevention of Fibromyalgia
There are no methods of prevention of fibromyalgia listed in the scientific literature available. Nevertheless, exercise, acupuncture, yoga, magnetic therapy and various other alternative therapies have certain adjuvant effect in relieving the symptoms associated with fibromyalgia that would prevent disability due to the pain.8
Complications of Fibromyalgia
Untreated individuals may suffer from severe depression due to the features such as constant nagging pain, headaches, anxiety and sleeplessness associated with fibromyalgia.
Homoeopathic treatment:
Homeopathy is one branch of medicine that can bring significant relief to the sufferers of Fibromyalgia. Homeopathy has effective medication that works at the physical as well as the mental plane and hence can be instrumental in giving maximum relief to these patients. The underlying stress that can be a trigger for this disorder can also be effectively handled with Homeopathic treatment. It improves the general immunity and vitality of the patient and also targets the increased sensitiveness to pain that these patients suffer from. There are a number of medicines indicated for fibromyalgia in Homoeopathy. If cases have taken with proper requirements like nature, modalities, causes etc, fibromyalgia can be cured easily through homoeopathically.
All cases of Fibromyalgia are different, and each treatment must be tailored to each specific patient. The use of medium or low doses when treating this condition serves a direct purpose; in almost all cases, Fibromyalgia is a chronic issue, meaning that treatment may be prolonged taking this into consideration.
