What is fibromyalgia?
Unfortunately, not much is known about fibromyalgia other than the following:
- It’s a disorder that causes indiscriminate musculoskeletal pain
- It’s believed that fibromyalgia affects the way your brain processes pain
- Women are far more likely to have fibromyalgia (75-90% of sufferers)
The good news is that studies are ongoing, and medical researchers are finding effective ways to deal with the symptoms.
What are the symptoms of fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread pain, making this symptom the hallmark of the condition. Outside of pain, you may also experience the following:
- Fatigue
- Inability to focus
- Headaches
Fibromyalgia often coincides with other conditions, such as:
- Temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, pain
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Interstitial cystitis
- Migraines
If you’ve developed any of these symptoms, you should schedule an appointment with Dr. Sardinas.
What causes fibromyalgia?
The exact cause of fibromyalgia remains a mystery. To date, medical researchers have linked the following to the disorder:
- Physical trauma
- Emotional trauma
- Stress and anxiety
- Infection
- Genetics
- Gender
Additionally, people with osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus may be more prone to developing fibromyalgia.
How is fibromyalgia diagnosed?
In the past, doctors used an 18-point test to check for tenderness, but this method proved unreliable. Now, the only criteria is whether you’ve suffered unexplained, widespread pain for three months are more.
Ultimately, diagnosing fibromyalgia requires a knowledgeable rheumatologist, like Dr. Sardinas, who’s trained to recognize the disorder. There are no blood tests that can confirm the presence of fibromyalgia. So, Dr. Sardinas takes your symptoms, accompanying conditions, and medical history into consideration in order to make a diagnosis and get you started on a treatment plan.
How is fibromyalgia treated?
Since there’s no identifiable cause of fibromyalgia, there’s no cure for the condition. That said, Dr. Sardinas has had great success treating the symptoms of fibromyalgia with the following:
- Pain relievers
- Anti-seizure medications
- Antidepressants
- Intra-articular injections, such as hyaluronic acid
Dr. Sardinas’s primary goal in treating your fibromyalgia is to relieve your pain and restore your quality of life. All too often, people living with fibromyalgia simply grit their teeth, curb their activities, and deal with the pain as best they can. Dr. Sardinas works to put an end to your suffering and get you back to doing what you enjoy most. And he works exhaustively until an effective solution is found.
Don’t suffer the oppressive effects of fibromyalgia longer than you have to. Call the offices of Alfredo Sardinas Jr MD PA to make an appointment or book an appointment online today.
