Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes pain and tenderness throughout your body as well as musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. People with fibromyalgia usually experience symptoms that come and go in flare-ups. Usually, the peaks and valleys between feeling good and a sudden flare-up of symptoms can feel overwhelming.
Fibromyalgia can often set in after some type of old cervical or tailbone injury, such as whiplash or falls. Anyone can develop fibromyalgia – it affects people of any age, including children. In fact, around 4 million people in the U.S. are living with fibromyalgia, while women and people older than 40 are more likely to be diagnosed with this condition.
Causes and Symptoms
There are many unique and complex characteristics surrounding fibromyalgia. These make it one of the most difficult, challenging, and complicated conditions to work with – or to suffer from.
To compound the problem, fibromyalgia tends to run in families, so genetic factors are likely to contribute to the disorder, but little is known about the specific genes involved. Researchers believe that environmental (nongenetic) factors also play a role in a person’s risk of developing the disorder. These environmental triggers may include having a disease that causes pain, such as rheumatoid arthritis, anxiety, or depression.
In general, doctors are very confused about fibromyalgia and what causes it. It is simply managed as a group of symptoms to be numbed and suppressed with medication. Moreover, it is considered an incurable condition, convicting patients to a life sentence of pain.
The two most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are pain and fatigue. Symptoms also may include:
- Muscle pain or tenderness.
- Fatigue.
- Face and jaw pain (temporomandibular joint disorders).
- Headaches and migraines.
- Digestive problems, including diarrhea and constipation.
- Bladder control issues.
Fibromyalgia can also cause mental and emotional symptoms, including:
- Memory problems (sometimes called “fibro fog” or “brain fog”).
- Anxiety.
- Depression.
- Insomnia and other sleep disorders.
What Underlies Fibromyalgia?
The variety of symptoms of fibromyalgia makes this condition extremely puzzling and tricky to treat. Yet, looking beyond these different symptoms, Spero’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Katinka van der Merwe, found that fibromyalgia is not caused by a single source. Rather, this condition seems to occur due to a malfunctioning central nervous system which covers the entire body and directs all body functions.
Think of your nervous system as the main electrical system. In the case of fibromyalgia, that system isn’t connecting.
One of the lead investigators studying the role of the central nervous system in fibromyalgia, Dr. Daniel Clauw, remarked that not only do abnormalities in the brain and central nervous system seem to “spillover” into the body and produce the collection of symptoms we know as fibromyalgia, but there is also evidence that injuries, illnesses, or other major stressors in the body can overwhelm the brain and central nervous system and cause different symptoms.
Healing from Within
Over the years, Dr. Katinka has introduced numerous tools and techniques to help fibromyalgia patients achieve healing. The key to this approach has been to look beyond the symptoms of this condition and treat the central nervous system itself.
Treatment is focused on nervous system rehabilitation and consists of Vagus nerve stimulation, neuromuscular re-education with patented technology, magnetic resonance technology, viral and bacterial analysis, and liver detoxification. These modalities are designed to enhance one another synergistically to restore balance to the central nervous system.
According to Dr. Katinka, “When the nervous system is given the tools that it needs to achieve a state of balance once again, signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia tend to resolve.”
If you or a loved one is in chronic neurologic pain, call us for free at (479) 304-8202 or book a free consultation with one of our chronic pain specialists today!
