Fibromyalgia

What is Fibromyalgia? What Are the Symptoms?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic syndrome that causes physical pain and mental discomfort. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), in the United States, approximately 5 million adults over the age of 18 experience fibromyalgia and roughly 80 – 90% of those who suffer are female. Fibromyalgia is neither an autoimmune or inflammation based illness, but research does suggest nervous system involvement.

Common symptoms include widespread pain, stiffness in the jaw, tired facial muscles and surrounding tissues, headaches, disturbed sleep, painful menstruation, irritable bowel syndrome, numb and tingling hands and feet, temperature sensitivity, fatigue, memory/concentration problems, and restless leg syndrome.

Frequently, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia takes some time. Many other conditions resemble fibromyalgia, such as hypothyroidism and polymyalgia rheumatica, and must be ruled out. There are no laboratory tests to confirm the diagnosis and this also contributes to the complication..

The American College of Rheumatology describes three criteria for a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Pain and symptoms, based on the number of painful areas (out of a possible 19), the severity of fatigue, waking up unrefreshed, and having cognitive disturbances.
Ongoing symptoms for greater than 3 months
Lack of clear diagnosis of another condition that would explain the pain and accompanying symptoms

Is There a Cure for Fibromyalgia?

Unfortunately, doctors are unable to find an exact cause for fibromyalgia. Medical experts believe that there are three main factors that cause fibromyalgia: infectious disease, genetics, and physical or emotional traumas.

There is also a hereditary component, in that women who have a close relative diagnosed with fibromyalgia have a higher risk of being affected by fibromyalgia. Further, people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or ankylosing spondylitis have a higher risk of developing the condition.

How Does Chiropractic Care Help?

Numerous studies have connected the dots between chiropractic care and symptom management of fibromyalgia, including pain, fatigue and sleep quality. One study found that ‘chiropractic management improved patients’ cervical and lumbar ranges of motion, straight leg raise and reported pain levels,’ and another study showed that fibromyalgia patients who combined resistance training and chiropractic care at least twice weekly reported improvement of their symptoms, flexibility, coordination, balance, and endurance.

Help for Fibromyalgia at Innate Life Chiropractic

At Innate Life Chiropractic in Palatine, our chiropractor will perform an examination, INsIGHT neurospinal scans, and evaluate your posture to discover where your body is out of balance. After analyzing the findings , Dr. Nathan will develop a care plan to help improve the health of your body, spine, nervous system and quality of life expression.

Tonal Chiropractic Adjustments

This approach looks at the overall tone of your nervous system. Is your body stuck in a sympathetic overdrive of “Fight or Flight” or over-exhuasted from a parasympathetic hibernation? Tonal chiropractic allows your body to find the harmony between these two extremes, while also relieving abnormal tension on the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. This allows your brain and body to be more adaptable and resilient. Digestion and elimination are both normal functions of the body, however can be interfered with when the nervous system is running “fight or flight” all the time. Dr. Nathan uses a combination of MLS, Network Spinal Analysis, Bio-Geometric Integration, and MC2 to help your nervous system shift from stress to healing.

Zone Healing

Dr. Nathan will adjust the vertebrae in the affected area to increase your range of motion and take pressure off the spinal nerves. He will focus on the imbalanced zone(s) connected to your challenge and begin care from there. Often times for people with fibromyaglia all of the zones, glandular, eliminative, nervous, digestive, muscular and circulatory, are out of balance to some degree

Getting Started

At Innate Life Chiropractic, we focus on your innate ability to heal, grow, and thrive. Everything we do is in service to unleashing that potential. Contact Palatine’s premier family chiropractor for help with fibromyalgia today.