Around 10 million Americans have fibromyalgia and, for many, the disease becomes the center of their existence. Given that symptoms range from widespread musculoskeletal pain and gastrointestinal issues to fatigue and brain fog, it’s little wonder that fibromyalgia has a way of stealing the spotlight of your life, and not in a good way.
Unfortunately, there’s no cure for fibromyalgia, but that doesn’t mean that you’re without options. As specialists in conditions that lead to chronic pain, the experienced team at Johnston Pain Management fully understands the impact that fibromyalgia can have on our patients’ lives, and we’re here to help with the latest therapies and protocols.
To give you a glimpse into best practices for managing fibromyalgia, we briefly outline some here.
The first step you should take after receiving a fibromyalgia diagnosis is to make sure that you have a team in your corner that understands the complexities of fibromyalgia.
At our practice, our team of pain management specialists has a unique understanding of the nature of pain, and we know best how to address it. For example, with fibromyalgia pain, there’s no obvious injury or damage, so we target the pain signaling directly in your central nervous system with:
While not nerve-related, muscle relaxers can also play a role in your treatment plan.
Each of these medications has a strong track record of helping people find comfort despite fibromyalgia, and we can work with you to find the one that works best for your symptoms.
The second biggest fibromyalgia complaint is lack of sleep, which only lends to the general fatigue that’s often associated with the disease.
We’re concerned that lack of sleep can heighten pain, so it’s an area we want to address.
To address sleep issues, we can look at medications, as well as improving sleep hygiene, which are steps you take to facilitate sleep, such as keeping to a schedule and reducing distractions around bedtime.
While fibromyalgia doesn’t exactly make you want to get up and exercise, some gentle stretching and strengthening exercises are a fantastic way to combat the illness.
Movement helps keep your body healthy and better able to manage fibromyalgia symptoms. Exercise also boosts feel-good chemicals in your brain, which can help suppress discomfort.
While our team excels at managing the pain and discomfort of fibromyalgia, we also recommend complementary therapies, such as:
Each of these practices can play an important role in your overall fibromyalgia treatment program, so they’re well worth exploring.
If you’d like to sit down with one of our fibromyalgia experts to determine the best therapies for your goals, please contact us at one of our conveniently located offices in Jacksonville, Hampstead, or New Bern, North Carolina, to schedule an appointment.
