By Harold Walker


Fibromyalgia refers to a very complicated medical condition. The condition comes along with chronic pain. It leads to sensitivity to touch and prevalent pain that may occur over the entire body. Eventually, the sensitivity and tenderness experienced wane and wax. There are physical, social and mental effects that come with this medical condition. When in need of Fibromyalgia sufferers Winnipeg should be visited.

In the US, statistics indicate that about 10 million people have the condition, which accounts for between 2 and 4 percent of the entire US population. Among the patients, women account for 80 percent of all cases while men account for only 20 percent. The condition does not discriminate based on age, and can affect adults and children alike. The term fibromyalgia literally translates to pain in tendons, ligaments, and muscle.

Fibromyalgia is normally abbreviated as FM. The condition is regarded to be more than just pain. There are a number of symptoms associated with it. These symptoms differ from person to person. Among the commonest signs are fatigue, excessive wellbeing, tenderness and loss of functionality. Normally, diagnosis is founded on a combination of a number of related signs. Normally, laboratory tests are carried out to exclude coexisting diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid hormone resistance.

The intensity of the symptoms that one suffers from usually varies a lot. Some of the most common symptoms include stiffness, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. Other commonly occurring symptoms include anxiety, depression, tension headaches, irritable bladder, pelvic pain, migraines, GERD, and IBS among others. Being stressed usually make the symptoms and problems related with the condition worse.

There is no cure for FM. It is recommended that multi-disciplinary techniques are employed to manage and relieve the problem. In many instances, doctors utilize behavioral therapy, light exercises and drugs to relieve the signs`. Health practitioners may aid an individual to develop a strategy to manage themselves and form goals for their lives. This scales down frequency, intensity of periodic flares in addition to recurrent signs.

Individuals with this condition normally feel lonely and are withdrawn because of cultural attitudes and stigmatization towards individuals with FM. This results into depression among patients. It is therefore important as a family to be close to a family member who has the condition. The individual ought to be treated as a normal person because they actually are.

FM diagnosis is usually very hard to do. Normally, diagnoses are dependent on the symptoms that the patient reports, physical examination and medical history. This may be coupled with precise manual tender point exams. According to research, on average, it takes five years for an individual with this condition to get a correct diagnosis. To a large extent, this is because many FM symptoms are identical to those of other medical problems.

The delay in diagnosis usually leads to extensive investigative costs and frustration for the patient and the doctor. As a result of this problem, the American College of Rheumatology published research criteria in 1990 that stipulate how a diagnosis of FM should be done. The research indicates the minimum symptoms for accurate diagnosis.




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