Can A Chiropractor Help With My Fibromyalgia?

Did you know that a chiropractor can address your fibromyalgia-related pain? A reputable Rockville, MD chiropractor, such as one from AmeriWell Clinics, can be of great use to getting your life back to normal. 

To get a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, you need to have widespread pain throughout your body for at least three months consecutively. To meet the criteria, you must have pain at least four of the five listed areas: 

  • left upper region (your shoulder, arm or jaw) 
  • right upper region (shoulder, arm or jaw)
  • left lower region (hip, buttock or leg)
  • right lower region (hip, buttock, or leg), and 
  • axial region (neck, back, chest or abdomen).

One of our doctors will also request other tests to rule out similar conditions. Some of those tests are a complete blood count, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and more. Having those tests rule out other conditions can help your doctor to decide that you definitely have fibromyalgia.

Some Treatments for Fibromyalgia

There are a variety of treatments available to treat fibromyalgia. These treatments do not work for everyone, but that’s probably why there’s so many treatments available.

  • Biofeedback
  • Injection therapy
  • Spinal cord stimulation
  • Intrathecal pumps
  • Vertebroplasty
  • Kyphoplasty
  • Radiofrequency ablation
  • Trigger point injection
  • Epidural steroid injection
  • Alternative therapies
  • Medication management

Pain relievers, antidepressants, and anti-seizure drugs may be the most commonly used treatments for fibromyalgia. However, there are tons of alternative management methods that you can try. Seek out a fibromyalgia specialist, which can very well be a chiropractor. Techniques such as biofeedback, which is where you learn to control your heart rate and other functions and make subtle changes to help yourself relax certain muscles and hopefully reduce pain, are less common but more and more people are interested in these types of alternative treatments.

Injection therapy is the therapy of injecting a painkiller such as lidocaine, and is similar to trigger point injections, which is where the pain med is injected to the sore spots on someone’s body. These methods have proven to provide relief. A similar treatment method to this one is the intrathecal pump which is a pain pump that pumps medication into the intrathecal space of the spine.

There are various surgeries, such as vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and even spinal cord stimulation that can also help fibromyalgia. In a vertebroplasty your physician uses image guidance, such as a fluoroscopy, to inject a cement mixture into the space of the spine that’s causing issues. A kyphoplasty is when they insert a balloon into the area causing issues and the balloon manages to create or stabilize a space in the spine.

Radiofrequency ablation in a practice that uses radio waves to heat nerves that send pain signals. This heating of the nerves can disrupt the signals and provide immediate relief. This procedure blocks and reduces pain for six to eight months on average. Results may vary, of course.

If you’re suffering with fibromyalgia, learn about alternative treatments and find a chiropractor who can help you get a treatment plan set up. There’s no harm in trying new things, especially when it might make your life a lot easier. Ensure that your physician is licensed and has experience working with fibromyalgia patients, so that you can get the best results possible for yourself.