Systemic and chronic health conditions like fibromyalgia are among the more challenging as they can be all-encompassing, hijacking your mental, physical, emotional, and social health.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone — fibromyalgia affects 2% of the adult population in the United States, which comes to about 4 million people.
While there may not be a cure for fibromyalgia, the team of skilled and compassionate providers here at Johnston Pain Management wants you to know that you’re not without solutions or hope. Let’s take a look at how we can help you experience more good days than bad when you have fibromyalgia.
If you’re reading this, it’s probably safe to assume that you know more than a little bit about fibromyalgia, but we want to review a few important points, just in case.
In short, fibromyalgia is a condition in which you have a heightened sensitivity to pain, though the condition casts a much wider net than discomfort, as side effects include:
Circling back to the pain, fibromyalgia can cause joint pain, muscle pain, stiffness, tenderness, and other forms of discomfort throughout your body.
Fibromyalgia can affect people of all ages, even children, and it tends to strike women more than men.
Unfortunately, we don’t know the cause of fibromyalgia, which means we don’t have an easy cure. That doesn’t mean, however, that you don’t have treatment options.
Given how widespread the symptoms of fibromyalgia can be, it’s little wonder that people with the condition experience a much reduced quality of life, and our goal is to improve that.
Our team of pain management experts believes in approaching fibromyalgia from every angle available, including:
As a pain management practice, we know our way around improving your comfort levels when you have fibromyalgia. Many patients respond well to medications that work on the brain, where the heightened sensitivity originates.
For example, using drugs like Cymbalta® and Savella® can alter your brain’s chemicals to reduce pain. We’ve also had success addressing nerve and muscle pain with Lyrica®.
We can also use interventional treatments, such as nerve blocks and neuromodulation, to help you feel more comfortable.
Given the widespread impact that fibromyalgia can have on your wellness, it’s little wonder that it can also bring your overall mental health down, which is why we provide psychological support. Our team includes clinical psychologists who can help keep your mental and emotional health on track.
Another key to managing fibromyalgia is through certain lifestyle practices, such as:
Focusing on self-care when you have fibromyalgia is important, and we can supply you with a long list of great practices that can improve your overall wellness.
As you can see, we leave no stone unturned when it comes to helping patients with fibromyalgia, and we’re happy to sit down with you to devise an optimal treatment plan. To get started, you can schedule a consultation at one of our three conveniently located offices in Jacksonville, Hampstead, or New Bern, North Carolina.
