Monday, September 21, 2009

Quick Diagnosis, Fibromyalgia Relief

It is important that you know exactly what is fibromyalgia, and what the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia are. This knowledge will enable you to seek diagnosis and treatment quickly if you need it.

What is Fibromyalgia?

If you have fibromyalgia you will notice a chronic pain that is widespread. You will also notice that your pain is heightened by an increased response to gentle stimuli.

This increased response to stimuli is what sets fibromyalgia apart from other chronic pain conditions. That said, there are a number of other symptoms of fibromyalgia you may experience if you have this condition.

Some of the other signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia would include extreme fatigue, sleep pattern disturbances, breathing problems, difficulty swallowing, bladder irregularities, numbness, tingling of the hands and feet, dizziness, headaches, facial pain, TMJ, and grinding of the teeth.

These physical symptoms of fibromyalgia may be coupled with signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia that are not physical.

The most common non-physical symptom of this condition would be depression. However, you may also experience anxiety, stress, mood swings, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and confusion.

These non-physical signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia are just as important as the physical symptoms when it comes to diagnosis.

Getting a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis

Unfortunately, it can be somewhat difficult to get a fibromyalgia diagnosis. Fibromyalgia is hard to diagnose because there is no uniform set of criteria that is used by doctors.

In addition to this, there is no one lab tests that can provide a yes or no answer for diagnosis. Fibromyalgia often mimics a number of other disorders on lab tests.

For this reason, most doctors will rule out any other likely causes of your symptoms of fibromyalgia before they provide you with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Relief from Fibromyalgia

Once you have been given a diagnosis, fibromyalgia is a very treatable condition. Treatment of the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia centers around pain management. This is achieved using a multidisciplinary approach. That means that your doctor will use a combination of medication and therapy to help you achieve optimal relief.

The medication they prescribe will either be a pain reliever like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin or Tramadol. They may also prescribe an opioid pain reliever like Morphine or Hydrocodone. Antidepressants and anticonvulsants are often used because they block pain signals.

Doctors also use therapies to treat the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Therapies can be quite successful in treatment after you get your diagnosis. Fibromyalgia often steals your mobility and things like physical therapy, massage therapy and chiropractic manipulation can help you significantly improve your daily life.

Treatments like this are more successful when they are started early on that is why it so important for your to seek diagnosis of this disorder as soon as you display and of the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia.

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