Fibromyalgia: Understanding Your Treatment Options

Fibromyalgia is one of those all-encompassing conditions that can cast a long shadow over your life. Making matters more frustrating for the 6 to 10 million Americans who have fibromyalgia, there is no cure for the disease.

The absence of a cure, however, doesn't mean that you’re without options for finding much-needed relief and help for your fibromyalgia.

In fact, you needn’t look any further than board-certified pain management specialist Dr. Marcie Merson and the team at Palm Beach Pain Institute. As our name suggests, we specialize in pain disorders like fibromyalgia, and we leave no stone unturned when it comes to improving the quality of life of our patients. 

With that in mind, we’re going to dive into some effective treatment options for fibromyalgia after a quick review of the condition.

A brief review of fibromyalgia

If you’re reading this blog, we can assume you know the basics about fibromyalgia, but we’re going to review them quickly here just to make sure.

At its core, fibromyalgia is defined as a chronic condition that leads to widespread musculoskeletal pain due to abnormal pain perception processing. This pain can be constant, but it often flares with certain triggers, such as stress.

Even taking the pain out of the equation, many people living with fibromyalgia often encounter other issues, such as:

• Mental fog
• Fatigue
• Jaw pain (TMJ syndrome)
• Depression
• Headaches
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Sleep problems

So, as you can see, and have likely experienced, fibromyalgia can cast a wide net over your health and wellness, both physical and mental.

Finding fibromyalgia relief

The conditions that can potentially fall under the fibromyalgia umbrella underscore the importance of a multi-pronged treatment approach that addresses all the ways in which you’re affected.

We’ve found that people respond well to a combination of the following fibromyalgia treatments:

Medications

We first want to make sure you’re comfortable, and we can do that through pain medications, but we want to use these sparingly as they aren’t really resolving the underlying issue.

Other medications can also help with issues like sleep and pain, and these include antidepressants, anti-convulsants, muscle relaxants, and medications that address fatigue (modafinil).

Exercise and physical therapy

If you’re living with musculoskeletal pain, getting exercise might not be appealing to you. That said, movement is an effective tool for managing fibromyalgia. 

We aren’t suggesting running a marathon, but getting some exercise and stretching can be beneficial in reducing inflammation and pain and promoting better sleep and mood. One of the best things you can do that offers stretching, strengthening, and exercise is yoga.

Osteopathic manipulative treatment

Another option for great full body treatment is osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). This treatment includes drug-free and hands-on therapies that use various techniques to restore alignment and balance in your body, as well as relieve tension. Examples of OMT therapies include myofascial release, soft tissue manipulation, and counterstrain techniques that work on your muscles.

In one study that followed a 41-year-old woman through OMT treatments, researchers concluded that OMT led to “Marked and sustained improvements in pain, fatigue, sleep quality, and cognitive function following a structured course of direct and supportive OMT techniques.”

Reducing stress

Stress is closely linked to fibromyalgia, and finding ways to de-stress is an important piece in the fibromyalgia treatment puzzle. We suggest activities that allow you to de-stress, including meditation, deep breathing exercises, or listening to music.

This list is by no means comprehensive as we can also add nutrition, biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, and more. Our point is that there is an extensive fibromyalgia toolkit from which we can draw to figure out a combination that allows you to reclaim your life.

To get on the road to relief from your fibromyalgia, we invite you to schedule an appointment today by calling our office in Delray Beach, Florida, at 561-499-7020 or booking online.