Fibromyalgia is a common disease today, characterized by chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain, accompanied by sleep disturbance, morning stiffness, and symmetrically distributed painful tender points. It is seen in 2-8% of the population, between the ages of 40 and 60, and is 3 times more common in women than in men.
Although the cause of fibromyalgia is not fully known, research has shown that genetic, neurohormonal, hormonal, psychological, sleep and environmental factors contribute to the formation of the disease, accompanied by a decrease in the functions of muscle tissue blood flow, nerve and energy metabolism.
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Fibromyalgia Symptoms
In fibromyalgia, chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, fatigue, morning stiffness, feeling of swelling in soft tissues, tingling, tremors, excessive sweating, feeling of coldness in the extremities, chronic headache (migraine). ), complaints such as jaw joint dysfunction, and more rarely, irritable bowel disease, menstrual disorder and premenstrual syndrome are detected. It may also be accompanied by symptoms such as dysuria (female urethral syndrome), cardiac and respiratory system symptoms, dry mouth, eyes and skin.
Fibromyalgia is more common in people who are prone to depression, have sleep disorders, and have high anxiety. These patients have hypersensitivity to pain.
Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
The patient's history, disease symptoms and physical examination are very important in diagnosing fibromyalgia. There is no specific marker for the disease in laboratory evaluations when making a diagnosis. However, in fibromyalgia, which is often confused with other diseases, examinations for differential diagnosis are of great importance.
Various diagnostic criteria have been developed to diagnose fibromyalgia, and these diagnostic criteria include the evaluation of the patient's widespread body pain and tender points, the duration of the complaints, the accompanying symptoms. Basic elements such as evaluation of symptoms and exclusion of other common causes of pain are emphasized.
How is Fibromyalgia Treated?
The most important principle in fibromyalgia treatment is patient-physician cooperation. The nature of the disease and the fact that it is not life-threatening should be clearly explained to the patient.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It has been shown that drugs and muscle relaxants are not effective in the treatment of fibromyalgia today. Drugs with proven effectiveness include various drugs such as antidepressants, opioid analgesics, pregabalin, gabapentin.
Organization of patients' daily life activities, patient education, cognitive behavioral therapy, use of nutritional supplements and dietary changes are among the treatment options applied individually. If there is fatigue, sleep disorder, depression, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and hormonal disorders accompanying the disease, they should be treated. One or all of the physical therapy and rehabilitation methods, exercise programs, massage, manual therapy, stretching and relaxation training, and regional injection methods can be applied. The point to be considered in this regard is that treatment methods are specific to the patient.
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