WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME?
Fibromyalgia is the most common arthritis-related illness after osteoarthritis.
Most suffering with it are women ranging in age from 25 to 60. Women are 10 times more likely to get this disease than men.It is a medically unexplained syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain, a heightened and painful response to pressure, insomnia, fatigue, and depression. Fibromyalgia causes the sufferer to ache all over. There is always a sense of crippling fatigue that can occur upon waking and throughout the whole day.
While not all affected persons experience all associated symptoms, the following symptoms commonly occur together:
- • chronic pain
- • debilitating fatigue
- • difficulty sleeping
- • anxiety and depression
- • joint stiffness
- • chronic headaches and jaw pain
- • difficulty swallowing
- • dryness in mouth, nose, and eyes
- • hypersensitivity to odors, bright lights, and loud noises
- • inability to concentrate (called “fibro fog”)
- • incontinence
- • irritable bowel syndrome
- • numbness or tingling in the fingers and feet
- • painful menstrual cramps
- • poor circulation in hands and feet (called Raynaud’s phenomenon)
- • restless legs syndrome
Fibromyalgia is diagnosed when there is a history of widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for a minimum duration of three months and pain when pressure is applied to at least 11 of 18 designated tender points on the body. This condition does not result in any physical damage to the body or its tissues and there are no laboratory tests which can confirm this diagnosis.
Symptoms often begin after a physical or emotional trauma or after an infection, but in many cases there appears to be no triggering event.
From an Eastern Perspective
The Oriental medicine theory of pain is expressed in this famous Chinese saying:”Bu tong ze tong, tong ze bu tong”which means”free flow: no pain, no free flow: pain.”
Pain is seen as a disruption of the flow of Qi within the body. The disruption of Qi that results in fibromyalgia is usually associated with disharmonies of the Liver, Spleen, Kidney and Heart Systems.
The Acupuncture Treatment
TCM does not recognize fibromyalgia as one particular disease pattern. Instead, it treats the specific symptoms that are unique to each individual depending on their constitution, emotional state, intensity and location of their pain, digestive health, sleeping patterns and an array of other signs and symptoms. Therefore, if 5 people are treated with TCM for fibromyalgia, each of these people will receive a unique, customized treatment with different acupuncture points, different herbs and different lifestyle and dietary recommendations. A treatment program with me may include a combination of exercise, acupuncture, herbal medicine and bodywork.
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Effects of acupuncture to treat fibromyalgia: A preliminary randomised controlled trial. All study participants met the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Background
Acupuncture is often used to treat fibromyalgia (FM), but it remains unclear whether acupuncture is effective. This study aims to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on pain and quality of life (QoL) in FM patients.
Methods
Sixteen patients (13 women and 3 men aged 25-63 years) suffering from FM were randomised into two groups: group A (n=8) received five acupuncture treatments after the fifth week and group B received ten acupuncture treatments. Outcome measures used in this study were pain intensity (visual analogue scale, VAS) and the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ). RESULTS: After the fifth week, pain intensity (U=25.0; P=0.022) in group B decreased and QoL (U=24.5; P=0.026) improved compared to group A.
Conclusion
The present study suggests that acupuncture treatment is effective to relieve pain for FM patients in terms of QoL and FIQ.