Although it had already been around for awhile Fibromyalgia emerged in the 1980’s as a disease of modern living. Typically patients experience fatigue, radiating and shooting muscle pain, and brain fog. In traditional western medicine the MD’s approach to Fibromyalgia is to treat it with a combination of therapies such as medications and physical therapy. Studies have shown this has had only limited success and Fibromyalgia quickly became a trash can diagnosis for many stressed induced disorders. Essentially, it is more of a syndrome than a true disease process meaning it contains a mixed presentation of symptomology. As a trademark the body becomes full of “tender points” along the torso and lower limbs and there is increased sensitivity to pain and different physical sensations. In addition there is often sleeplessness, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome. The pharmacological drugs provided such as NSAIDS, painkillers and antidepressants only mask the symptoms and have limited success with Fibromyalgia. Women are more affected than men and there is speculation that a environmental trigger may be involved.
By contrast alternative medicine takes a more comprehensive approach. In both chiropractic and acupuncture the focus is in identifying stress and removing it from the body. Diet plays an important role and often the first two objectives in treating Fibromyalgia is to get the patient to sleep and flush the body of sugar. When acupuncture is used the concept is to restore energetic balance to the body usually through the spleen and liver meridians. This is accomplished by inserting small acupuncture needles along the meridian pathways to reduce muscle pain and circulate the body’s energy or Qi. Learn more about our acupuncture treatments on our Acupuncture Rochester NY page.
With chiropractic the focus is on removing subluxations or misalignments to the spine which cause nerve interference. Often a subluxation can be asymptomatic for many years and the patient will never know it’s there. The positive effects of chiropractic on patients with fibromyalgia has been well documented over the years. In a study by Amalu WC in TODAYS CHIROPRACTIC May/June 2000 all 23 fibromyalgia patients with chronic fatigue reported positive results and maintained their improvements after one year of follow-up or more. In an additional study in The American Journal of Medicine researches found that 45.9% of patients who had fibromyalgia experienced moderate to great improvement after they went to a chiropractor. Learn more about our chiropractor treatments on our Chiropractor Rochester NY page.
Learn more about treating Fibromyalgia with natural therapies at Web MD: https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-treatments
At Chiropractic Health Wellness and Acupuncture we have been treating patients with Fibromyalgia since we opened our doors in 1983. Located in Penfield the practice serves Fairport, Webster, Brighton, Pittsford and the greater Rochester NY area.
Contact Us today to schedule your free initial consultation. All you have to lose is your pain!