what exactly is fibromyalgia and how do you know if you have it? I have heard that it can be related to tmd? would frequent migrane headaches and bulging disks in your neck constitute as having fibromyalgia? First Comes TMD, Then Fibromyalgia?
Getting to the root of diagnosing orofascial pain, a condition affecting more than 15 million Americans, can be frustrating for patients and a daunting task for physicians and dentists. Symptoms caused by temporomandibular disorders (TMD), a variety of conditions affecting the jaw, joints and nerves, often mimic other conditions such as headache, migraine and sinus and tooth pain.
To further complicate diagnosis, new connections reveal TMD may be related to fibromyalgia, a chronic musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder which causes pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons, according to a report in a recent 2003 issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.
Both TMD and fibromyalgia produce similar painful symptoms in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, back, face and head. Dizziness and sleep disturbances can also be a symptom of both conditions. "We've found many patients suffering with TMD problems also suffer later in life from fibromyalgia," says Thomas P. Sollecito, DMD, lead author of the report. "Typically thought of as unrelated, this potential connection should be further explored."
The dentist may often hold the key to recovery for many head pain sufferers, and patients with facial pain should contact their dentist, explains Lois Duerst, DDS, MAGD, spokesperson for the AGD. "Dentists are trained to evaluate various types of facial pain, and often can pinpoint the cause of the pain and make treatment recommendations," says Dr. Duerst.
TMD Checklist:
鈥?An earache without an infection
鈥?Jaw pain or soreness that is more prevalent in the morning or late afternoon
鈥?Jaw pain when you chew, bite or yawn
鈥?Clicking associated with pain when opening and closing your mouth
鈥?Difficulty opening and closing your mouth
鈥?Locked or stiff jaw when you talk, yawn or eat
鈥?Sensitive teeth when no dental problems can be found
Fibromyalgia is "diagnosed" by "symptoms" and "tenderpoints." Go to this website:
http://www.immunesupport.com/fibromyalgi...
What Is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. "Tender points" refers to tenderness that occurs in precise, localized areas, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. People with this syndrome may also experience sleep disturbances, morning stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and other symptoms.
How Is Fibromyalgia Diagnosed?
Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose because many of the symptoms mimic those of other disorders. The physician reviews the patient's medical history and makes a diagnosis of fibromyalgia based on a history of chronic widespread pain that persists for more than 3 months. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has developed criteria for fibromyalgia that physicians can use in diagnosing the disorder. According to ACR criteria, a person is considered to have fibromyalgia if he or she has widespread pain in combination with tenderness in at least 11 of 18 specific tender point sites.
Fibromyalgia Tenderpoints Index
How Can You Tell if You Have Fibromyalgia?
Your doctor will ask about your pain symptoms and then press on a series of anatomically-defined soft tissue body sites called 鈥渢ender points.鈥?There are 18 tender points on the body that will usually be highly sensitive to pressure in people with fibromyalgia as specified by the American College of Rheumatology criteria. People who do not have fibromyalgia are much less tender to pressure applied at these tender points.
What are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?
While the symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia fluctuate from person to person, there is one common symptom that all agree on - they ache all over. The pain can feel like a deep bone ache, pains and needles, or a stabbing or burning pain. Muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. There are times this pain is mild, others when it is so severe that it becomes unbearable.
Along with pain, many Fibromyalgia sufferers report headaches, poor sleep, fatigue, depression, and irregular bowel habits. Many others simply describe their symptoms as "flu-like."
http://www.fibromyalgia.com/migraine_hea...
http://www.immunesupport.com/
Migraines/headaches: http://www.immunesupport.com/library/pow...
Bulging discs: http://www.immunesupport.com/library/pow... Fibromyalgia is a condition of chronic pain, fatigue, and soreness. It can be mild or incapacitating. TMD is related to Fibro, simply because many fibro sufferers tend to have TMD syndrome, migraine headaches. There is a connection between cervical disc herniations and fibromyalgia. The theory is that the cervical disc is impacting nerves and the spinal cord making you more susceptible to pain. Alot of research has been done on this. Many fibro patients have IBS, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, MS like symptoms (twitching, shaking and tingling as well).
In order to be definitively diagnosed with fibro, you usually need to be seen by a rheumatologist or neurologist to rule out other conditions. And there are a set of criteria in order to be diagnosed properly.
There are some new medicaitons on the market, cymbalta and lyrica that are truly helping fibro patients live better lives.
I suggest that you start with your family physician and let her know your concerns. Sometimes 'old school' doctors blow this condition (fibro) off. If your doctor blows you off, find another one. You may have it and you need to manage it.
Good luck and feel free to email me with questions. If you have bulging disks-you may have similar symptoms to Fibromyalgia, but you do not have REAL fibromyalgia-you have a spinal disorder. Fibromyalgia is believed to be a disorder of the central nervous system-with the brain be disordered and not managaing brain chemicals correctly.
It is possible to develop Fibromyalgia as a complication of a disk problem--but the disk problem itself is not part of fibromylagi
in fibromyalgia-there is NO inflammation, swelling, deformity...
It is more likely that Fibromylagia will lead to TMD...although it is possible for TMD to be a trigger for fibromyalgia.
It is believed taht you need to be predisposed to fibromyalgia and than have a triggering even like an injury, illness, or emotional trauma. |
