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The informative pediatric home
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FIBROMYALGIA is a muscular pain that originates in the connective tissue of the body (muscles, tendons, or ligaments), as such it is classified as a type of rheumatism rather than arthritis (which originates in the joints). Patients with fibromyalgia usually have a great deal of pain, stiffness, and discomfort, but still have normal x-rays and laboratory tests. These patients may even have been told that their discomfort is "psychosomatic” since all their tests are normal. This, however, is untrue. Fibromyalgia is a very real disorder, which in previous years was called fibrositis (indicating that inflammation was part of the process). This is now thought to be untrue -fibromyalgia is now thought to be caused by abnormally tight muscles which result in pain and tenseness. A good comparison to fibromyalgia are the tension-type headaches that occur in some people. Tension headaches occur due to pain or spasms developing in the muscles of the back of the neck or in the scalp. The pain is then increased by spasms or pressure on the blood vessels that supply blood to these muscles. Clinch your fist tightly for 30 to 60 seconds and you will notice a discomfort start to spread up the forearm -this discomfort is the pain of muscular contraction and mimics the pain of Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is typically caused due to tiredness or fatigue, and can be provoked by stress or tension. The tightening of the muscles can often continue through the night, disturbing sleep, and causing you to wake fatigued and tense. Unconscious clinching jaws or grinding of the teeth throughout the night can also cause you to wake with jaw pain and headaches. TREATMENT: Treatment of fibromyalgia usually encompasses a variety of different modalities. Antiinflammatory medications such as Motrin, Naprosyn, Clinoril, Indocin, Tolectin, Feldene, aspirin, Ecotrin, Bufferin, Anacin, etc; may be beneficial in relieving the discomfort. Tranquilizers or muscle relaxants taken at bedtime may be beneficial to help tightened muscles to relax. Injections into the tender muscle areas and heated water such as whirlpools are also helpful in getting the muscles to relax. Body and muscle building exercises can cause the discomfort of fibromyalgia to become worse, but there are exercises that are designed to help muscle relax. These exercises include some element of mental relaxation such as yoga and biofeedback. If fibromyalgia is your final diagnosis, remember that it is a very real condition that can be controlled with various types of treatment.
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