Fibromyalgia & Alternative Medicine

Once dismissed as a condition unique to "housewives", fibromyalgia is finally seeing increased acceptance by the medical community. Today, it's estimated that as many as 5% of people living in industrialized nations have symptoms meeting the American College of Rheumatology's criteria for fibromyalgia.

Medically speaking, fibromyalgia isn't actually a disease--it's a disorder. Fibromyalgia causes muscle pain and fatigue in sufferers and often leaves them with lingering "tender spots" on the neck, back, arms, legs hips and shoulders. Fibromyalgia is also associated with insomnia, headaches, menstrual pain, memory problems and tingling sensations in the hands and feet.

But Is Fibromyalgia Even Real?

Even fibromyalgia's harshest critics acknowledge that the pain fibromyalgia patients describe is real. But is the condition itself real? One leading rheumatologist calls fibromyalgia an "untenable diagnosis" and calls for the medical community to abandon the use of the term fibromyalgia. Though not unsympathetic to the plight of fibromyalgia patients, he believes that fibromyalgia patients are "poorly served" with "a hopeless prognosis".

Other doctors disagree. Robert M. Bennett MD, FRCP from Oregon Health Sciences University calls fibromyalgia a problem of associated with "disorderd sensory processing". He describes fibromyalgia as a chronic pain state with both sensory and psychological components.

And he's not the only one. In a 2002 paper written by a rheumatologist at the University of Michigan, Dr. Daniel Clauw described his study of fibromyalgia patients. Dr. Clauw used MRI technology to demonstrate the difference between the way a fibromyalgia patient experiences pain and the way a "normal" person experiences it. By applying pressure to certain parts of the body, Dr. Clauw was able to show that fibromyalgia sufferers needed only half as much pressure to register a recognizable pain response on the test.

Natural Help for Fibromyalgia

The internet has been both a blessing and a curse for people dealing with fibromyalgia. They've found both support for their condition and a wealth of scientifically dubious "information" about potential treatments. Unfortunately, most of the herbal treatments for fibromyalgia have not been proven and some, like arnica, are potentially dangerous.

As far as credible sources go, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends a regimen that includes at least 30 minutes of daily exercise in addition to meditation, breathing exercises and yoga. Acupuncture may be helpful in managing symptoms of fibromyalgia, too. Two large studies in 2005 demonstrated that while the traditional Chinese practice of acupuncture didn't actually help reduce pain, it did help reduce the fatigue and anxiety that many fibromyalgia patients struggle with.