Fibromyalgia Pain Whether you are experiencing painful tender points, deep muscle pain, chronic headaches, unending back pain, or neck pain, you know how fibromyalgia feels. People with fibromyalgia experience pain in ways no one else can really understand. But what is pain? What causes it? Is fibromyalgia pain acute (short term) or chronic (long term)? And what impact does fibromyalgia pain have on every part of your life? Pain is an uncomfortable feeling in your body that warns you something is wrong. While this feeling is the bodys way of alerting your brain that there is a problem, after it goes on for weeks or even months, pain becomes a part of your very existence. At that point, not only is pain a symptom that something is wrong, but pain becomes the disease itself. What Is Fibromyalgia-Related Pain? Fibromyalgia-related pain is pain that causes you to ache all over. You may have painful trigger points, places on your body that hurt no matter what medication you take. Your muscles may feel like they have been overworked or pulled even though you havent exercised. Sometimes, your muscles will twitch. Other times they will burn or ache with deep stabbing pain. Some patients with fibromyalgia have pain and achiness around the joints in their neck, shoulders, back, and hips. This kind of pain makes it difficult to sleep or exercise. How Does the Brain Perceive Pain? There are roughly 20 different kinds of nerve endings in your skin that tell you if something is hot, cold, or painful. These nerve endings convert mechanical, thermal, or chemical energy into electrical signals that convey information to the brain and spinal cord -- also known as the central nervous system or CNS. These signals travel to areas of your CNS where you perceive the stimuli as the painful sensations you actually feel -- sensations such as searing, burning, pounding, or throbbing. Research suggests that the pain associated with fibromyalgia is caused by a glitch in the way the body processes pain. This glitch results in a hypersensitivity to stimuli that normally are not painful. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), research has shown that people with fibromyalgia have reduced blood flow to parts of the brain that normally help the body deal with pain. Is Fibromyalgia Pain Acute or Chronic? Acute pain comes on suddenly and can be severe. For instance, think about how suddenly your back can ache after youve bent down to lift a heavy package or a child. Yet, in more than 80% of cases, acute pain goes away in about two weeks. It runs its course and disappears as the problem is relieved. If your pain from a strained muscle lasts only a few days or weeks, it is considered acute. Chronic pain is pain that lasts much longer than someone would normally expect based on the original problem or injury. When pain becomes chronic, our bodies react in several ways. Chronic pain may be associated with abnormalities in brain hormones, low energy, mood disorders, muscle pain, and impaired mental and physical performance. As neurochemical changes in your body increase your sensitivity to pain, the chronic pain worsens. You begin to have pain in other parts of the body that do not normally hurt.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:32:00 +0000
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