The symptoms of fibromyalgia vary at times, and because of that, it can be difficult for us to determine exactly what are the symptoms of the disorder and what may be the symptoms of other disorders that you may have alongside your fibromyalgia.
Because of that, it’s important to understand all of the different disorders that can come alongside fibromyalgia. One of those disorders is Myofascial Pain Syndrome. In this article, we’re going to take a look at Myofascial Pain Syndrome and how it relates to fibromyalgia.
What is Myofascial Pain Syndrome?
In short, Myofascial Pain Syndrome is an issue that happens within the muscles and the connective tissues in the body. Myofascial Pain Syndrome basically causes a number of trigger points to happen throughout an area that has been traumatized in some way (a bruise, bump, break, or some other issue that cause the muscle tissue to not be able to function as properly as it could). This trigger point ends up causing a huge bump in the area, similar to the knots that you would get in an area that was stressed out (shoulders, back, etc).
The knot isn’t necessarily painful (but it can be); the knot, however, may cause pain in other parts of the body. For example, if you have a knot in your wrist as a result of Myofascial Pain Syndrome, and you poke it, you could feel the pain in your fingers or in your elbow, even though the knot is located in the middle of you wrist. This type of pain, called referred pain, can end up really hurting a person who is trying to deal with the pain from Myofascial Pain Syndrome and can cause it to take longer to heal as well.
That being said, Myofascial Pain Syndrome does not have a known cause at this point in time. In some people, trauma to certain muscles results in Myofascial Pain Syndrome and gives the knots that we talked about. But a perfectly healthy person who doesn’t have Myofascial Pain Syndrome would heal normally from the same exact sort of trauma. Like with many medical mysteries, experts have not been able to determine exactly why some people Myofascial Pain Syndrome with injuries whereas other people do absolutely fine and don’t have long term problems.
There are theories, however. Some experts suggest that Myofascial Pain Syndrome happens because the trauma that has occurred in the muscles does something to that area of the body. It could become inflamed or malformed, which then leads to the knots that happen with Myofascial Pain Syndrome. The muscle cells, essentially, don’t heal as they should be, and thus causes the painful knotting and the trouble moving.
This theory, of course, then moves from being a physical disease that’s caused by the trauma, and makes Myofascial Pain Syndrome instead a neuromuscular disease, which may be part of the reason that it ends up being related to fibromyalgia in one way or another. To be honest, it’s unknown why Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia are related, but this theory and others give us a bit of an idea that we can work with.
How Can We Treat Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Together?
The hardest part of treating Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia is trying to figure out whether or not you actually have Myofascial Pain Syndrome. Since Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia have such similar symptoms, it’s really difficult to make a determination that tells us whether or not you have such issues. Both Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia share headaches, sleeping problems, tissue pain, sweating, ear problems, balance and vertigo issues, and flare ups. So, if you’re dealing with these symptoms, your specialist may struggle in determining what is going on with the symptoms that you are experiencing.
But, the good news is that there are a small handful of issues that Myofascial Pain Syndrome has that you won’t find with fibromyalgia, which means that you will be able to make a determination and it will be easier for your doctor to see whether or not you have Myofascial Pain Syndrome with your fibromyalgia.
These symptoms include double vision, blurry vision, nausea for no reason, inability to move, limited motion, clicking or popping in the joints, and a feeling of numbness in certain areas, specifically the arms and legs. If you are experiencing any of these issues and you have fibromyalgia, you will want to contact your doctor – you may also be dealing with Myofascial Pain Syndrome on top of your fibromyalgia pain.
There are a lot of ways that doctors will deal with this dual diagnosis of Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia. The treatments usually include some sort of medication – in most cases, they will use tricyclic antidepressants in order to relieve the pain and to help relax the body, thus making it easier for your limbs and joints to move as they should. Another common treatment that you will see many doctors, especially homeopathic ones, utilize is acupuncture.
Acupuncture has had a lot of positive results in people with Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia, and it can help to reduce the issues that go on in your pressure points. Last but not least, you will usually have to do some sort of physical therapy. Even though there are different exercises for Myofascial Pain Syndrome and fibromyalgia, you will notice that there is some overlap and you will find a lot of relief as well.
So, if you’re looking for help with your myofascial pain syndrome and your fibromyalgia, you will want to talk to your doctor as soon as possible. They can help you with the diagnosis and give you advice that will help you deal with both in a suitable manner. Do you have myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia? What do you and your doctor do to help you deal with it? Let us know – we can all help each other to deal with the symptoms and the struggles of both these disorders.
Further reading
What’s the Difference Between Fibromyalgia & Myofascial Pain Syndrome?: http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/whyfmscfsarelinked/a/myofascialpain.htm
Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome-A Dilemma: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2900090/
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