A comprehensive look at Fibromyalgia pain, its symptoms, triggers, and effective strategies to manage and alleviate discomfort.
Nearly everyone will experience head pain at some point during their lives, but for some people, head pain can become chronic. Chronic migraines and headaches can range in severity from annoying to debilitating. Thankfully, a wide range of treatment options are available for head pain, providing lots of potential options to try when managing head pain. Oral medications are usually the first type of pain management attempted to treat head pain. The most common reason…
It has long been a common recommendation that chronic patients maintain a pain diary. The idea behind a pain diary is simple. Using either an electronic device or a paper journal, pain patients keep track of: The theory behind the recommendation is that doctors and patients can gain a better understanding of certain chronic pain syndromes than they might with simple patient reporting at a visit. Keeping track of pain levels allows a patient to…
The term “fibromyalgia” may be relatively new, but the condition itself has been around for quite a while. After several name changes, a definite set of diagnostic parameters are finally established for fibromyalgia. History of fibromyalgia The first known mention of fibromyalgia was in the 1800s, but at the time it was simply called “muscular rheumatism.” When “muscular rheumatism” was first written about, doctors noted that it caused stiffness, aches, pains, tiredness, and difficulty speaking.…
In the fight against lower back pain, many people and their doctors reach for the same weapons: common over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications. New research on commonly recommended and prescribed lower back pain medications has found that many may actually be virtually ineffective for treating lower back pain and that medication for lower back pain may actually do more harm than good. Over-the-counter medication for lower back pain Nsaids are a standard go-to medication for lower back pain,…
It’s been about a year since we became Pain Doctor and began sharing information with you about everything pain- and health-related. In that time, we’ve covered a lot of information, but we’ve tried to make sure that all of it is centered around the topics that you, as a health–conscious pain patient, might care about the most. It was tough, but we narrowed down a year’s worth of information into our top ten favorite posts…
If you’re wondering how to prevent knee pain in old age, the answer often comes down to taking steps today to reduce your risk. By reducing your risk for the nine most common causes and risk factors for knee pain, you can prevent a large possibility of knee pain in your future. How does anatomy prevent knee pain, and cause it? The knee is a joint made of four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella.…
To most people, pain is usually nothing more than an annoyance–a twinge of back pain or a prickle of pain from a hangnail. For those who suffer from a chronic pain condition, however, it’s much more than an annoyance. When traditional treatment methods have failed and the pain persists, it might beg the question: why do we feel pain? Pain is an extremely important genetic adaptation. At its core, pain is a survival mechanism. It’s…
Almost everyone will experience a painful leg spasm at some point. These spasms, sometimes called “Charley horses,” are a painful contraction that can last from a few seconds to several minutes. Residual pain can linger for days. Spasms most often occur during intense activity, such as while running, or when a person is just dozing off or waking up. The muscles of the hands, arms, abdomen, or along the rib cage are all prone to spasms,…
Every once in a while we get a client that comes through the door with both Fibromyalgia and sciatica. Unfortunately, for many people with Fibromyalgia, most new symptoms get put down to simply yet another Fibro symptom. However, if you do have Sciatica, then you will likely already know, that sciatica pain feels very different to normal everyday Fibromyalgia pain. So, with that being said, I am going to say the same thing to you…
Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis are two conditions that often go hand in hand with each other. Over the years we have lost count of the number of clients who were plagued with the hallmark sharp stabbing pains, that often come with Costochondritis. Within this topic are many questions, most of which become a whole lot harder to answer when we factor In Fibromyalgia. There are many people in the general population who have Costochondritis, it’s not just another issue…