Sep 25 2010

Fibromyalgia Pain: Is It All In Your Head?

Category: Fibromyalgia pain relief — admin @ 12:50 am

: Fibromyalgia Pain

Fibromyalgia: Why Is It All In Your Head?

Until very recently, many doctors refused to believe fibromyalgia pain was real. However, in the last few years technology has proven to be very useful, allowing researchers the ability to see inside a fibromyalgia sufferers head using powerful MRI brain scans, and what they are finding is that the answers to treating fibromyalgia may just be that “ All In Your Head”.

A current main theory to why you or someone you know may be suffering from fibromyalgia is all about what’s going on inside your head. Don’t worry this is not psychological, you’re not going crazy…studies show that its chemical changes taking place.

Individuals who have developed fibromyalgia appear to have an oversensitivity to pain signals in their brain. This is type of reaction to pain is called ‘central sensitization’. Researchers are not quite sure why this occurs in some individuals, but they believe that it may be caused by various minor changes in brain chemicals. The hows and why of what triggers these brain changes and the causes are still not known.

Central Sensitization

Central sensitization usually involves debilitating fatigue in the majority of patients along with most individuals experiencing wide spread chronic pain. Many researchers are targeting central sensitization as the cause for the majority of musculoskeletal pain seen in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome patients.

Many patients cannot tolerate:

Jewelry lying against skin
The pressure of sheets while sleeping
A Hand Shake
A light Caress

Fibromyalgia Pain Perception

Using MRI scans Dr. Daniel Clauw, a rheumatologist and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, was the first to provide objective proof that fibromyalgia pain is real. In a study he published that involved 16 sufferers and 16 unaffiliated volunteers; he demonstrated that when small amounts of pressure was applied to the study participants left thumbs, the fibromyalgia patients had blood rushed to areas of the brain that are linked to pain perception. The healthy volunteers were immune to the lighter pressure; as a result Dr. Clauw had to increase the pressure by doubling it to elicit the same pain response that he saw in the afflicted fibromyalgia group.

Fibromyalgia in the study showed that they did indeed have elevated or heightened sensitivity to touch, and Dr. Clauw believes that fibromyalgia sufferers have sensory messages to the brain that are exaggerated, making even the feel of a light weight sheet on the body painful. This is due to the fact that countervailing messages from the brain are too weak to shut off the pain response, so the combined effect is to “turn up the volume on pain”. Researchers have constantly established that fibromyalgia patients have three times more pain-transmitting chemical called substance P in their spinal fluid and too little of the pain-reducing chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine that help control pain responses.

The most effective treatment that researchers have discovered have been options that are low-tech such as; getting better quality sleep and low impact exercise.

Fibromyalgia Remedies

Fibromyalgia Pain: Is It All In Your Head?

bookmark Fibromyalgia Pain: Is It All In Your Head?

Technorati Tags: Chronic fatigue syndrome, Chronic pain, Fibromyalgia

Tags: Chronic fatigue syndrome, Chronic pain, Fibromyalgia

Comments (0)

Sep 03 2009

Injections & Nerve Blocks For Treating Fibromyalgia

Category: Fibromyalgia pain relief — admin @ 12:09 am

Fibromyalgia Pain Relief

Treating Fibromyalgias With Nerve Blocks For

Chronic Back Pain

Chronic low back pain is a big problem and can side line anyone. Missing time from work, decreased mobility, reduction in social interactions, and can causing havoc with your home life can degrade your quality of life. There are many treatment options, and as with life there is no one size fits all fibromyalgia remedy. Today we will look at different ways of treating fibromyalgia back pain symptoms.

Many fibromyalgia suffers seek help to treat their:

Stiffness
Pain
Muscle Spams
Pain radiating or shooting down the legs or buttocks
Pain radiating down legs to feet
Numbness or tingling sensation in buttocks and legs
Numbness or tingling sensation in groin
Numbness or tingling sensation in feet and toes

fibromyalgia 350 Injections & Nerve Blocks For Treating Fibromyalgia

Treatment Options For Fibromyalgia Pain Relief

Conservative treatment options include taking over the counter analgesics such as: Tylenol, Motrin, Aleve, and Aspirin.

When over the counter medications don’t work your doctor may prescribe prescription medications such as: Voltran, Tramadol, Ultram, Flexeril, Robaxin, Baclofen, Skelaxin, or narcotics.

Topical pain relievers are a new forms of treatments that doctors are prescribing for fibromyalgia, and Lidoderm is one example. Many people prefer NSAIDS patches as they do not cause stomach problems that some of the pill NSAIDS do with long term use. Over the counter topical pain relievers can be found on drug store shelves that can include Ben Gay, Icey Hot, Well Patch with Capsaicen, but the one that works the best for many is Joint-Ritis Arthritis Pain Relieving Patch, Triple Action, Extra Strength that contains Lanolin, Glucosamine & Chondroitin

Spinal Injections or Spinal Nerve Blocks

After a full work up by your doctor he or she may come to the conclusion that nerve blocks or injections are necessary to treat your back pain. As fibromyalgia and myofascial pain quite frequently involves tender points. If your doctor determines after your work up that your sever back pain is a result of structural problems; compression fractures, spondylosis, herniated disc, disc disease, then your doctor may choose for you to have either a spinal block, facet joint block, or a paravertebral block.

Types of Blocks:

Spinal Injections: Spinal injections are often used to reduce or eliminate lower back or radiating leg pain.

Peripheral Nerve Blocks: This block numb the nerves outside of your spinal cord. This is beneficial as these nerves can often times become irritated.

Tell Me More About Nerve Blocks

Well, a nerve block or nerve root block is a procedure where an injection is given into a specific area or areas in your back. The nerve block works by preventing pain signal from traveling to your brain. The purpose of treating a person with a nerve block is to prevent or stop the brain from receiving pain signals, and the sensation of pain.

Nerve blocks can be a tremendous benefit as they provide immediate pain relief, stop the nerves from triggering a pain response, and can relieve inflammation.
Long term benefits of nerve block in fibromyalgia patients can include: reduced joint pain, increased range of motion, a reduction in muscle pain, and the reduction or elimination of pain.

Following the Nerve Block Procedure

You should have immediate pain relief, with a slight numbness in your legs, groin or feet. You should not drive or do any activities until the numbness subsides.
Are There Nerve Block Side Effects?
They are rare, but can include: Rash around site, tenderness around injection site, numbness, loss of sensation, nausea, vomiting, nerve damage, and infection.

Nerve blocks will not cure your fibromyalgia, nerve blocks are band aid therapy for nerve pain. They can provide temporary relief of joint pain, muscle pain and nerve pain. They typically last for a few months depending on the medications used, and you are limited on how many injections you can have in a specific time frame.
Nerve blocks should be used in conjunction to other important therapies such as: daily exercises, daily stretching, physical therapy is ordered, healthy diet, and fibromyalgia medications.

Treating fibromyalgia is never easy, but it can be done. Stay strong, keep an open mind, and know that you are not alone!