What the heck is Myofascial Pain, Fibromyalgia and RSD??
If you are experiencing pain all the time but can't figure out what is causing it, you just might have one (or more) of these, like I do. I was told in December, 2005, (after having carpal tunnel surgery on both hands in 2001, a spinal fusion in my neck in 2003, and almost 5 years of going through excruciating pain), that I have "some type of myofascial pain", and that there's no cure for it.
These are extremely painful and sometimes disabling disorders, and are almost impossible to detect because it seems there aren't very many doctors who know how to diagnose them! (I guess the "scientist" in them wants to see concrete proof of someting wrong.) Then again, if it seems they are testing you for everything under the sun, it's because they have to rule everything else out first, just to be sure it's not a symptom of something that could be life-threatening. You can expect to see several different doctors before getting a correct diagnosis and any treatment that gives you any kind of relief.
It's also difficult to tell these three conditions apart since they have so many similarities. (Google any of these three disorders and you will find all three mentioned in most of the sites listed.)
They can all be caused by repetitive motion, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, surgery, physical trauma, as well as other causes specific to each.
Some of the similar symptoms that are common to all three disorders are pain, numbness, migraine headaches, fatigue, stiffness, weakness, sensitivity to touch, and of course depression.
Here is what I've been learning. If it can help anyone else, I'd like to share it, and I'd also like to hear from anyone else who might have any of these.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a painful musculoskeletal (soft tissue) disorder. The fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds every tissue, muscle, bone, nerve ending, blood vessel and organ in your body. It is usually centered in one area of the body, and has "myofascial trigger points", which are hypersensitive areas of skeletal muscle fibers, that when pressed on causes pain and tenderness in other areas. (The trigger points on your neck can "refer" pain to your head, and trigger points in your lower back can "refer" pain to your legs.)
It can be irritated by stress and tension, as it causes muscle tension which irritates the trigger points, causing pain thru the whole body. It can also be inflammed by sudden coldness, like entering an air conditioned building, weather changes, high humidity, extreme dryness and physical activity. (Like doing laundry or grocery shopping.)
Fibromyalgia. I've heard two different things about this one. First,that it is a chronic musculoskeletal condition (muscle sensitivity), and second, that FMS is not musculoskeletal, but a neurological disease. Either way, it has widespread pain, achiness, tenderness, and stiffness in the muscle tissue, ligaments, and tendons. It usually involves more generalized muscle tenderness in all four quadrants of the body, with sleep and gastrointestinal problems, and all of that of course, leads to depression and anxiety. It can be irritated by the time of day, (really bad in mornings, easing up during the day and worse again in the evening.) And like MPS, it can also be irritated by stress, weather, and physical activity. A heck of a lot of people have this, and about 80% of those are women. You can get fibromyalgia at any age, but it seems to be in women 20 to 40 years old most often, and there have even been reports of fibromyalgia in children. (What used to be called "growing pains" might actually be fibromyalgia, especially if the child complains of having trouble sleeping.) There is also a possibility that it is hereditary. You can also get something that I've heard called "Fibro Fog" -- you think you're going crazy or getting alzheimers... I have found myself that I will suddenly be aware of where I am & what I'm doing, and not remember how I got there. (Really scary when you're driving!!)
RSD, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), is a chronic, painful, and progressive neurological condition that affects skin, muscles, joints, and bones. It ususlly starts after an injury or surgery, but not always. It can be irritated by -- well, it's pretty much always irritated. People who have CRPS/RSD can develop myofascial pain when normal pain mechanisms aren't working right. Certain changes, such as being inflammation at the injured area cause significant changes at the spinal cord and brain which amplify the pain and dysfunction. Compensating for an injured area (like your hand) over time causes long-term maladaptive changes in your body, (like weakness or tightening in the supporting muscles of the shoulder and neck, from trying to protect your hand!) These overused and deconditioned muscle groups are more likely to develop myofascial pain. (Sometimes it seems like the RSD is spreading, when it's actually the Myofascial trigger points that is causing pain to radiate to other parts of your body.)
The causes of MPS and RSD/CRPS that are similar are heart attacks and heart disease. MPS and FMS share stress and repetitive motion injuries. The causes of FMS and RSD/CRPS that are similar are viral or bacterial infection and
spinal cord disorders. (Where MPS can be caused by injury to intervertebrael discs, but not the cord.) This also might make it difficult to diagnose. But there are causes and symptoms that are specific to each disorder.
You can get myofascial pain if you have fibromyalgia, trauma to muscles tendons, etc, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal changes like PMS or menopause, frquent exposure to cold, such as sitting under an A/C duct or sleeping by the A/C, poor posture, lack of activity, as when in a cast or sling, and compensating for an injured limb and overusing the other limb.
Causes specific to fibromyalgia are sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and disturbed sleep, immune or indrocine system dysfunction, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and also if others in your family have it. Also, the causes are just plain unknown.
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome can be caused by radiation therapy, cerebral lesions and 10-20% of cases have no direct cause.
This is what I've been experiencing...
Loud noises are now deafening, you freeze in the winter and sweat all summer! (More than before, I mean!) And going from season to season is a killer, too. You never get to adjust! And get out your sunglasses, cuz every time you go outside, even if it's cloudy, your eyes will burn like a vampire's! You have worse menstrual periods and painful sex. You've seen that commercial where the woman is singing, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now..." Yep, you get your exercise running to the bathroom all the time.
Sometimes it's impossible to get through normal daily activities since the pain, which can be aching, throbbing, burning, move from one part of your body to another and muscle spams, is usually worse in the morning, and you feel like you're swelling, even tho' you're not. You get short of breath and your heart races and pounds doing the slightest thing. It can improve a little throughout the day, but just about the time you start to feel half-way decent it starts getting worse again in the evening! (For me, that's usually about 3-5 PM.) (Doesn't leave much time to get things done!)
This is also a chronic condition and you can expect to suffer from these symptoms for the rest of your life or -- if you get lucky, it will come & go. You get little to no sympathy (or empathy) from the doctors, who say, "You'll just have to learn to live with it." That frustration, of course, causes your stress level to go up, and here you go again!
There are a ton of symptons for these three medical conditions. (I'm putting the ones I have first.)
Childhood growing pains, "Traveling" nocturnal sinus stuffiness, post nasal drip, runny nose, sore throat, swollen glands, dry cough, allergies, mold/yeast sensitivity, TMJ symptoms, stiff neck, dizziness when turning head or changing field of view, difficulty swallowing, reflux problems, thick secretions, (eeewwwwww)headaches/migraines, drooling in sleep, disturbed sleep pattern with unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, morning stiffness, sweats, shortness of breath, painful weak grip that may let go, (invest in a nice set of Tupperware glasses and dishes), loss of sex drive, low back pain, fingernails that curve under and splitting cuticles, double or blurry vision, visual perception problems, "night blindness" (really hard to drive when it gets dark,) red & watery eyes, drooping of eyelids, (I thought my age was catching up to me -- but only on one side??), depression, irritability for no reason, trouble concentrating, difficulty putting your thoughts into words, times where you stare into space waiting for your brain to catch up to you, you get disoriented and confused, short-term memory impairment, sometimes you don't recognize your surroundings, panic attacks, carbohydrate & chocolate cravings, (which explains a lot), weight gain/loss, (I've gained 40 pounds since I first went out on disability, 20 of that was after my spinal fusion), soft spongy tummy/abdomen, visual and audio effects/falling sensations before sleep (it's called "sleep starts",) earaches and ringing or itchy ears, unexplained toothaches, rapid irregular heartbeat, sometimes fluttering, heart attack-like pain,
bloating/nausea/abdominal cramps, appendicitis-like pains, hyper-sensitive to odors, touch, even light wind, hot & cold, humidity & weather changes, blotchy skin, thumb pain and tingling numbness, urine retention or (frequent), tendency to cry easily, weak ankles, leg cramps, tight Achilles tendons, groin pain, sciatic nerve pain, muscle twitching, shin splint-type pain, heel pain, restless leg syndrome, (hate that! that's when the muscles in your legs jerk & twitch at night), non-specific swelling, buckling knees, problems going up and down stairs,
handwriting difficulties, sore spot on top of your head, problems raising arms and holding them up for any amount of time, carpal tunnel-like pain in your writsts, tight hamstrings, numbness/tingling on the outer thigh, trouble keeping your balance, after you get out of the car you still feel like your moving, you feel like your car is going to roll when turning corners, when you get up in the morning, it's incredibly painful for your feet to have contact with the floor for awhile, (for me it's anywhere from 1-3 hours), the pressure of eyeglasses on your face is painful,
you get bruises and scars easily, you get dizzy when looking at certain patterns, you grind your teeth, delayed reactions to "overdoing it" (and believe me, you'll pay for it!) and other members of my family have it. Yep, I got all of those. Now here are a few more that aren't affecting me right now.
Ingrown hairs, loss of ability to distinguish some shades of colors, abdominal cramps, colic, irritable bowel, PMS, menstrual problems and/or pelvic pain, impotence, stress incontinence, pelvic pain, painful sex, and the mitral valve (in your heart) that regulates the flow of blood between two of the chambers is "leaking", (if I understand that correctly.)
hhh More to come later!! My microphone isn't working! hhh
These are extremely painful and sometimes disabling disorders, and are almost impossible to detect because it seems there aren't very many doctors who know how to diagnose them! (I guess the "scientist" in them wants to see concrete proof of someting wrong.) Then again, if it seems they are testing you for everything under the sun, it's because they have to rule everything else out first, just to be sure it's not a symptom of something that could be life-threatening. You can expect to see several different doctors before getting a correct diagnosis and any treatment that gives you any kind of relief.
It's also difficult to tell these three conditions apart since they have so many similarities. (Google any of these three disorders and you will find all three mentioned in most of the sites listed.)
They can all be caused by repetitive motion, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, surgery, physical trauma, as well as other causes specific to each.
Some of the similar symptoms that are common to all three disorders are pain, numbness, migraine headaches, fatigue, stiffness, weakness, sensitivity to touch, and of course depression.
Here is what I've been learning. If it can help anyone else, I'd like to share it, and I'd also like to hear from anyone else who might have any of these.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a painful musculoskeletal (soft tissue) disorder. The fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds every tissue, muscle, bone, nerve ending, blood vessel and organ in your body. It is usually centered in one area of the body, and has "myofascial trigger points", which are hypersensitive areas of skeletal muscle fibers, that when pressed on causes pain and tenderness in other areas. (The trigger points on your neck can "refer" pain to your head, and trigger points in your lower back can "refer" pain to your legs.)
It can be irritated by stress and tension, as it causes muscle tension which irritates the trigger points, causing pain thru the whole body. It can also be inflammed by sudden coldness, like entering an air conditioned building, weather changes, high humidity, extreme dryness and physical activity. (Like doing laundry or grocery shopping.)
Fibromyalgia. I've heard two different things about this one. First,that it is a chronic musculoskeletal condition (muscle sensitivity), and second, that FMS is not musculoskeletal, but a neurological disease. Either way, it has widespread pain, achiness, tenderness, and stiffness in the muscle tissue, ligaments, and tendons. It usually involves more generalized muscle tenderness in all four quadrants of the body, with sleep and gastrointestinal problems, and all of that of course, leads to depression and anxiety. It can be irritated by the time of day, (really bad in mornings, easing up during the day and worse again in the evening.) And like MPS, it can also be irritated by stress, weather, and physical activity. A heck of a lot of people have this, and about 80% of those are women. You can get fibromyalgia at any age, but it seems to be in women 20 to 40 years old most often, and there have even been reports of fibromyalgia in children. (What used to be called "growing pains" might actually be fibromyalgia, especially if the child complains of having trouble sleeping.) There is also a possibility that it is hereditary. You can also get something that I've heard called "Fibro Fog" -- you think you're going crazy or getting alzheimers... I have found myself that I will suddenly be aware of where I am & what I'm doing, and not remember how I got there. (Really scary when you're driving!!)
RSD, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), is a chronic, painful, and progressive neurological condition that affects skin, muscles, joints, and bones. It ususlly starts after an injury or surgery, but not always. It can be irritated by -- well, it's pretty much always irritated. People who have CRPS/RSD can develop myofascial pain when normal pain mechanisms aren't working right. Certain changes, such as being inflammation at the injured area cause significant changes at the spinal cord and brain which amplify the pain and dysfunction. Compensating for an injured area (like your hand) over time causes long-term maladaptive changes in your body, (like weakness or tightening in the supporting muscles of the shoulder and neck, from trying to protect your hand!) These overused and deconditioned muscle groups are more likely to develop myofascial pain. (Sometimes it seems like the RSD is spreading, when it's actually the Myofascial trigger points that is causing pain to radiate to other parts of your body.)
The causes of MPS and RSD/CRPS that are similar are heart attacks and heart disease. MPS and FMS share stress and repetitive motion injuries. The causes of FMS and RSD/CRPS that are similar are viral or bacterial infection and
spinal cord disorders. (Where MPS can be caused by injury to intervertebrael discs, but not the cord.) This also might make it difficult to diagnose. But there are causes and symptoms that are specific to each disorder.
You can get myofascial pain if you have fibromyalgia, trauma to muscles tendons, etc, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal changes like PMS or menopause, frquent exposure to cold, such as sitting under an A/C duct or sleeping by the A/C, poor posture, lack of activity, as when in a cast or sling, and compensating for an injured limb and overusing the other limb.
Causes specific to fibromyalgia are sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and disturbed sleep, immune or indrocine system dysfunction, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and also if others in your family have it. Also, the causes are just plain unknown.
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome can be caused by radiation therapy, cerebral lesions and 10-20% of cases have no direct cause.
This is what I've been experiencing...
Loud noises are now deafening, you freeze in the winter and sweat all summer! (More than before, I mean!) And going from season to season is a killer, too. You never get to adjust! And get out your sunglasses, cuz every time you go outside, even if it's cloudy, your eyes will burn like a vampire's! You have worse menstrual periods and painful sex. You've seen that commercial where the woman is singing, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now..." Yep, you get your exercise running to the bathroom all the time.
Sometimes it's impossible to get through normal daily activities since the pain, which can be aching, throbbing, burning, move from one part of your body to another and muscle spams, is usually worse in the morning, and you feel like you're swelling, even tho' you're not. You get short of breath and your heart races and pounds doing the slightest thing. It can improve a little throughout the day, but just about the time you start to feel half-way decent it starts getting worse again in the evening! (For me, that's usually about 3-5 PM.) (Doesn't leave much time to get things done!)
This is also a chronic condition and you can expect to suffer from these symptoms for the rest of your life or -- if you get lucky, it will come & go. You get little to no sympathy (or empathy) from the doctors, who say, "You'll just have to learn to live with it." That frustration, of course, causes your stress level to go up, and here you go again!
There are a ton of symptons for these three medical conditions. (I'm putting the ones I have first.)
Childhood growing pains, "Traveling" nocturnal sinus stuffiness, post nasal drip, runny nose, sore throat, swollen glands, dry cough, allergies, mold/yeast sensitivity, TMJ symptoms, stiff neck, dizziness when turning head or changing field of view, difficulty swallowing, reflux problems, thick secretions, (eeewwwwww)headaches/migraines, drooling in sleep, disturbed sleep pattern with unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, morning stiffness, sweats, shortness of breath, painful weak grip that may let go, (invest in a nice set of Tupperware glasses and dishes), loss of sex drive, low back pain, fingernails that curve under and splitting cuticles, double or blurry vision, visual perception problems, "night blindness" (really hard to drive when it gets dark,) red & watery eyes, drooping of eyelids, (I thought my age was catching up to me -- but only on one side??), depression, irritability for no reason, trouble concentrating, difficulty putting your thoughts into words, times where you stare into space waiting for your brain to catch up to you, you get disoriented and confused, short-term memory impairment, sometimes you don't recognize your surroundings, panic attacks, carbohydrate & chocolate cravings, (which explains a lot), weight gain/loss, (I've gained 40 pounds since I first went out on disability, 20 of that was after my spinal fusion), soft spongy tummy/abdomen, visual and audio effects/falling sensations before sleep (it's called "sleep starts",) earaches and ringing or itchy ears, unexplained toothaches, rapid irregular heartbeat, sometimes fluttering, heart attack-like pain,
bloating/nausea/abdominal cramps, appendicitis-like pains, hyper-sensitive to odors, touch, even light wind, hot & cold, humidity & weather changes, blotchy skin, thumb pain and tingling numbness, urine retention or (frequent), tendency to cry easily, weak ankles, leg cramps, tight Achilles tendons, groin pain, sciatic nerve pain, muscle twitching, shin splint-type pain, heel pain, restless leg syndrome, (hate that! that's when the muscles in your legs jerk & twitch at night), non-specific swelling, buckling knees, problems going up and down stairs,
handwriting difficulties, sore spot on top of your head, problems raising arms and holding them up for any amount of time, carpal tunnel-like pain in your writsts, tight hamstrings, numbness/tingling on the outer thigh, trouble keeping your balance, after you get out of the car you still feel like your moving, you feel like your car is going to roll when turning corners, when you get up in the morning, it's incredibly painful for your feet to have contact with the floor for awhile, (for me it's anywhere from 1-3 hours), the pressure of eyeglasses on your face is painful,
you get bruises and scars easily, you get dizzy when looking at certain patterns, you grind your teeth, delayed reactions to "overdoing it" (and believe me, you'll pay for it!) and other members of my family have it. Yep, I got all of those. Now here are a few more that aren't affecting me right now.
Ingrown hairs, loss of ability to distinguish some shades of colors, abdominal cramps, colic, irritable bowel, PMS, menstrual problems and/or pelvic pain, impotence, stress incontinence, pelvic pain, painful sex, and the mitral valve (in your heart) that regulates the flow of blood between two of the chambers is "leaking", (if I understand that correctly.)
hhh More to come later!! My microphone isn't working! hhh
posted by Kim Brownlee at 6:29 AM
4 comments
